After last weekend's fascinating test against the Pumas, I am looking forward to watching the development of the All Blacks' game plan against the Springboks tonight.
Last week was of particular interest because they managed to get wing Julian Savea into the game more, and not just as a battering ram - a key for me, as I have written about before.
They achieved that through clever innovations, particular around their scrum. Israel Dagg gets involved anyway through his game sense, but it's important to design strike moves around Savea. They did and he delivered.
The All Black scrum has pretty much been the most dominant in the game for the past decade, but it was interesting to see that they found themselves under pressure in the lineout. That hasn't happened for a while. At the World Cup they were operating at a success rate of more than 90 per cent in this area, so they have been able to launch a lot off that.
With Sam Cane out I wonder whether that changes how they use their loose forwards at AMI Stadium tonight. What I've noticed in particular is how they are using Kieran Read a lot tighter these days. Jerome Kaino is staying in his channel near the breakdown where he is so destructive, and, rather than Read holding his width near the sideline, he is a lot closer to the action. They're inclined to use Dane Coles and even Codie Taylor in that wide channel where Read used to be.
