Confusion over lineout woes

Richie McCaw. Ross Land / Getty Images

Mention lineouts and problems in the same sentence and the All Blacks response gets as confusing as that set piece.

Lineout coach Steve Hansen was prickly after Pretoria when the issue was raised and while accepting all was not right during yesterday's 21-20 loss to the Springboks, tried to downplay any drama.

Coach Graham Henry acknowledged there was more of a problem though he bristled when asked whether a specialist coach would be introduced to parallel the work Mike Cron had done with the scrum.

"We have a specialist coach," he said, "Steve Hansen."

Former All Black lock Robin Brooke had been drafted in to assist in a camp in Christchurch and other tutors would be used in the future.

"It is a concern," Henry added. "The lineouts functioned well initially then we got under pressure and Matfield and his mates are very good at defensive lineouts, probably the best playing in the world at the moment and we have got some work to do there."

Hansen did not accept the lineouts had regressed, though about seven missed collects yesterday at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace near Rustenburg suggested some regular haemorrhaging.

That lack of certainty stunted attacking intentions and one failure, just shy of halftime when the All Blacks kicked to the corner rather than at goal, was particularly costly.

Lock Ali Williams brought a different perspective.

"I didn't think they were too bad, to be honest. I thought initially we started off quite well, then we took a few shorter options to run a few plays off them and struggled a little bit there but generally I think we got our ball."

The one loss near the Springbok line had been frustrating but they had tried a "bit of a hit and miss sort of thing there".

A greater problem was a lack of clinical handling and finishing.

Springbok captain John Smit said his side tried to apply as much pressure as they could to the All Black lineout, which then eased the heat on his side's defences.

"Lineouts are funny though, you can also get it wrong too," he warned.

His coach Jake White offered a pithy retort to Henry's observation that the All Blacks were not as hungry for victory.

"If you are not hungry to beat a world record [for consecutive wins] you are two games away from then you are not hungry at all," he said.

Henry congratulated South Africa for overcoming the odds and their adversity. "We have had a great year and we would have liked to finish today with a clean sheet," he said. "It didn't happen and I think their desire was greater than ours and that is understandable to some extent, but it is also a great learning experience for our team, as long as we learn from it.

"It is a long time since we have lost and as long as we look at our deficiencies then we can progress."

The reward of winning a mini-series in South Africa was not enough inspiration to get his side up for the first rugby international at the venue. After 15 straight wins the All Blacks were not absolutely desperate.

It was human nature that this team was not "on the edge of the edge" when they had won all the silverware on offer this season.

Hansen did not think there was any psychological block for the forwards in their lineout execution. But they did get anxious when the Springboks made inroads. "We all know it is not where it needs to be and it is a continual work-on but if we panic about it we are going to be in the deep end so it is just one day at a time and work away at it quietly," he said.

The result was a rarity for All Black skipper Richie McCaw, his first defeat as skipper in 10 tests. With Jerry Collins and Chris Jack, before he left the field suffering the effects of a virus, McCaw was among the more accurate in the pack.

He was in great nick earning penalties or turning over ball at the breakdown and needed stitches for a cut on his left cheekbone.

"We had our opportunities and we perhaps made mistakes. They forced us into mistakes and in the second half we struggled to get down the right end of the field and because of that we were under pressure," McCaw said. "I think the frustrating thing was we had enough chances and did not finish."