Rush defence job a success against Boks

It took them three cracks but the All Blacks have at last found a way to breach the Springboks' fabled rush defence.

It's a good job they have, as it was starting to take on the same unfathomable status as the Oracle of Thebes.

Graham Henry's side, keen to take a revered place in the annals of All Black rugby, were only ever going to sit in the shadow of the Invincibles, Originals and Incomparables, unless they could find a way to defeat a side whose best work is done without the ball.

A win last night was imperative, not just to keep the All Blacks hopes of winning the Tri Nations alive but to say to the rugby world that Henry and his chums can think on their feet and find basic solutions to their most pressing of problems.

The solution was perhaps presented by the Wallabies last week when they showed that the Boks have a soft underbelly behind the breakdown.

When the Boks defend from the outside in, going wide early is suicidal, so the All Black forwards and the impressive Piri Weepu hit tight to the breakdown.

"We tried to attack round the ruck," said Henry. "Piri obviously ran a lot and did it particularly well. But we didn't get enough possession in the right areas of the field in the second half.

"There was a concentration of trying to go up the guts, if you like, rather than go wide and it was pretty effective.

"We didn't have the ball in the right areas of the park in the second half. We played a lot of the game in our territory and that can cause problems if you try and play that type of game [expansive]. They scored a try under the sticks.

"One of the keys of the game was to drive the lineout and we did that and we scored a try. We didn't do that in Cape Town."

The big difference last night from the game in Cape Town was that the All Blacks were able to keep the Boks guessing. The visitors weren't able to get off the defensive line with the urgency they would have liked as they were wary of their vulnerability round the fringes.

Assistant All Black coach Wayne Smith also felt there was another major factor at play that helped his side immeasurably. The Boks, he felt, were no longer setting their defensive screen with one foot in front and the other behind the offside line.

"I don't think South Africa were offside with respect to the tries," said Smith. "For the first one we had no halfback and the ball came out legitimately. The second was a charge down and the third was an intercept try in open play."

South Africa coach Jake White was not so sure that the All Blacks had in fact discovered the magic key they were looking for.

His take, while perhaps a touch ingenuous, did carry a significant element of truth.

"I don't think our defensive system was wrong last night, we just missed too many first up tackles. When you let players like Joe Rokocoko in behind you, it is very hard to go back and fetch them."


- HERALD ON SUNDAY