Elliott Smith and Liam Napier review the All Blacks' rugby test loss to Argentina last night, and look ahead to next week's clash at Eden Park.
Video / Mark Mitchell
THREE KEY FACTS
Scott Robertson faces tough decisions on strategy and selection after the All Blacks’ 38-30 loss.
TJ Perenara’s performance raises questions about his role and the All Blacks’ tempo.
Changes in the back-row and wing positions are likely, with Sam Cane and Wallace Sititi considered.
The question about strategy will likely yield an answer that says they got it right in theory – that the plans the coaching team hatched and practised were arguably right, but the team didn’t deliver to the brief come the actual game.
Robertson, following the 38-30 loss in Wellington, has made this much clear, suggesting that as much as the performance was blighted by execution errors, there were several failures in game management.
TJ Perenara's role has come under scrutiny as All Blacks seek a higher-tempo attack. Photo / Photosport
And that, by extension, answers the preparation question. If the players so easily and readily drifted from the tactical script and were guilty of a crippling number of basic errors in execution, then the coaching panel needs to look at how they are communicating game plans, and whether skill sets are being adequately tested at training.
It’s the question of selection, however, that may be the hardest to answer as there is always a difficulty in determining what is cause and what is the effect in a performance that was at times shambolic.
Swinging the selection axe too hard runs the risk of throwing up a few undeserving scapegoats, but to not swing it at all is to potentially invite a repeat performance at Eden Park.
A case can certainly be made to rejig the starting line-up in Eden Park to some extent, with halfback, wing and the loose trio combination the areas that most need to be assessed.
TJ Perenara was brought back to start at halfback in Wellington in a move that felt almost regressive, or at least difficult to understand.
The coaches wanted his experience in a critical decision-making role, but the evidence had been strong throughout the July tests that the All Blacks are a better team, more likely to stress and damage defences when they use the pace and energy of Cortez Ratima and Noah Hotham to facilitate a higher-tempo attack.
Perenara, a fabulous warrior and competitor, struggled to give the attack any continuity or natural flow and his desire to slow things down and heavily box-kick felt like it was destined to draw the All Blacks into the arm wrestle they were so desperate to avoid.
Pressure mounts on Scott Robertson to find solutions as All Blacks face Argentina at Eden Park. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The fact that the Pumas so brilliantly used a kickoff strategy to pin the All Blacks into their own 22 was a sign they knew the likely exit plan would involve Perenara’s box-kicking and that they saw that as an opportunity rather than a threat.
Ratima and Hotham are raw and inexperienced, but they look better equipped to deliver a higher-tempo attack and lessen the likelihood of the All Blacks finding themselves in yet another tense, tight final quarter at Eden Park.
Sevu Reece, who started the season so convincingly against England, has come off the boil, and his lack of height and ability to contest for the ball in the air either defensively or offensively hurt the All Blacks in Wellington (and in Auckland).
Given the multitude of options to stick on the right wing – Will Jordan, Caleb Clarke and even Rieko Ioane – the argument to change is significantly stronger than continuing with Reece.
There is no specific sense of what the right make-up for the back row should be, but the game in Wellington highlighted again that the combination is still not quite right.
The All Blacks appear to be lacking impact in their ball carrying and defensive crunch and Dalton Papali’i, one critical turnover aside and Ethan Blackadder didn’t have the requisite impact.
The latter was his usual committed self, his effort off the scale, but whether he’s the right sort of athlete to play blindside at this level is a question for which there is not yet a definitive answer.
Bringing back Sam Cane to start at openside this week and possibly moving Papali’i to the blindside will probably come under consideration – as should the prospect of bringing in Wallace Sititi to start at No 8 and play Savea at No 7.
The bottom line is that whoever the All Blacks end up selecting at loose forward, they need to make more ball-carrying metres and a higher percentage of dominant tackles.
Considerably earlier than anyone imagined, Robertson and his coaching team find themselves under an intensity of pressure to come up with the right solutions to redirect an All Blacks team that is not seemingly heading anywhere in particular.
