All Blacks players celebrate a try against Wales. Photo / Photosport
All Blacks players celebrate a try against Wales. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
It was four years ago that the All Blacks started to obsess about how they could build a strategy to ignite their attack game in the face of the supremely well organised rush defences of the Six Nations heavyweights.
It became an all-consuming quest: a Da Vinci Code riddleto crack, searching for the Holy Grail of being able to create space against opponents who simply weren’t willing to give any.
The harder they searched, however, the further they seemed from finding what they were looking for.
In came the double-playmakers, the Scott Barrett experiment at blindside, Kieran Read being shifted to play as a tight ball-carrier, Sevu Reece’s fast feet introduced on the wing.
There was no shortage of ideas, no lack of creative thinking, but there was no sign of the Holy Grail either, which was most painfully demonstrated in the World Cup semifinal when England seemingly took a sledgehammer and clunked it with all their might to shatter the All Blacks in Yokohama.
But the search for answers may finally be over. The demolition of Wales was the strongest evidence yet that the All Blacks have at last discovered the secret to nullifying the physical and confrontational threat posed by the Six Nations sides and have now the formula to play against rush defences.
And a little like the Da Vinci Code, the answer was in plain sight all along.
The All Blacks were looking in all the wrong places it turned out — as what they needed wasn’t innovation, but a reversion to the basics and a mind-set of fighting fire with fire.
If the 19-7 loss to England in 2019 demonstrated the All Blacks frailties in the face of confrontational rugby, then the 55-23 victory against Wales in 2022, should be seen as a rebirth — the moment in time they showed that what was once broken is now fixed.
It was a victory for simple, physical rugby, executed with intensity and accuracy.
It was a victory built on the six pillars of dominant ball-carrying, technically proficient and ruthless cleanout work at the breakdown to produce quick recycled ball, aggressive scrummaging, slick lineout, brutal defence and a commitment to playing only in narrow channels.
It was also a victory for New Zealand Rugby’s board and the decision made earlier this year to retain Ian Foster as head coach.
As has been detailed by the Herald, Foster’s position became secure once Joe Schmidt made it clear he wasn’t comfortable working with any other head coach.
Schmidt became the king-maker, not just because of his head coaching experience and in-depth knowledge of the Six Nations teams, but because having him as an assistant, enabled Foster to focus more on managing personnel and strategy — qualities which are his undoubted strengths.
All Blacks assistant coaches Jason Ryan and Joe Schmidt. Photo / Photosport
The combination of Foster, Schmidt and Jason Ryan felt right, and the Welsh test, which was their sixth together and their first against Six Nations opposition, was the strongest evidence yet that they are effectively arming the All Blacks to combat the trench warfare they will encounter at next year’s World Cup.
Speaking after the win in Cardiff, Aaron Smith revealed that there has been no trickery, or re-invention of what they are trying to do, but instead the plan has been to execute simple things better.
“Joe Schmidt has been really honest about trying to create opportunities through cleanout and speed,” said Smith.
“We learned a lot of lessons this week around what it means to be an All Black. We questioned ourselves about things which the jersey demands and we found some gold there and tonight we showed that. “If we can clean up our games through our discipline of staying onside and rolling away at the rucks then we can stay positive about where we can take our footy.”
Smith didn’t say as much, but the implication is there that the arrival of Schmidt, and indeed Ryan, has enabled their fresh eyes to see that the All Blacks, in search of answers to play around a rush defence, had lost focus on the importance of their ball-carrying, their cleanout and, to a lesser degree, their set-piece.
These skills aren’t abstract. This is how the All Blacks can negate the defensive power and speed of the Six Nations teams — by attacking them directly in the middle of the field, but with vastly improved body positions and technical awareness to generate the speed of recycle that makes them a black wall of oppression.
If the ball had been dry, the field not as treacherous as it was amid the wild humidity under the Principality Stadium roof, then we most likely would have seen a little more adventure to levin the directness.
But baby steps for now, the creative part can wait as the All Blacks have to show in their last two games of 2022 that they can replicate what they produced in Cardiff.
