All Blacks at the Rugby World Cup: Three things we need to see against Tonga

Name: All Blacks: 'Kiwis are nervous?'
Uploaded: 2015-10-09T04:23:21+13:00
Duration: 173 s
Description: With the All Blacks in Newcastle are Gregor Paul and Patrick McKendry, and from high up in the stands with the AB's captain's run behind them they keep you informed on how the team 'is traveling' as the All Blacks are about to leave pool play and start the quarter-finals.

NZ Herald

8 Oct, 2015 09:57 PM3 mins to read

With the All Blacks in Newcastle are Gregor Paul and Patrick McKendry, and from high up in the stands with the AB's captain's run behind them they keep you informed on how the team 'is traveling' as the All Blacks are about to leave pool play and start the quarter-finals.

The Herald's Wynne Gray and Dylan Cleaver provide three things they want to see happen when the All Blacks clash with Tonga in their final Rugby World Cup pool game tomorrow.

Wynne Gray

1) Rugby intelligence

The run, pass, run and run some more lateral work against Georgia was strange and a wasted chance. Some counter came about the Georgians having only one man in the backfield. So what. Amongst a lot of the spruiking we are told the All Blacks play what is in front of them and they messed up their chance to use this game even more than their training ground routines.

2) Control

Certain elements in rugby remain a key to performance and we need more reminders from the pack they can create room for their talented backline. While McCaw put in another grunty match there wasn't the same clout from his loose-forward cohorts. They did not seem to have shifted gear for this game.

3) A variety of tempo

Flat-out seems to be the only measure for the backs. Aaron Smith whips out his passes and off they roar without it seems, any great variation to that spread it like margarine theme. It can look glossy but opponents are a lot fitter these days, RWC games are slowing because of TMO interventions and the Abs will need to devise a greater range of threats.

Dylan Cleaver

1. Dan Carter running the show
Like a Herald colleague, I thought Carter was awful against Georgia. Unlike my colleague, I don't think Carter should be dropped because the two No 10 options that will make the All Blacks function better have fatal flaws: a) Beauden Barrett is a poor pressure goalkicker and; b) Lima Sopoaga didn't make the squad. People may say, 'What about Colin Slade?' To my mind he is a nice enough player and a handy utility, but not the sort of first-five who can dominate a World Cup knockout match.

2. Unlocking the locks
It was a year ago when the All Black second-row was the envy of the world. Brodie Retallick was, officially, the best player in the world. Now it seems that every defence knows exactly what he's going to do as soon as he catches the ball. The All Black locks seem passive by comparison to previous years. Now's the time to start seeing New Zealand's numbers 4, 5 and 19 start displaying the full palette of skills - both core roles and ball-handling - that have elevated them above the cliché of tight-five grinders.

3. No soft tries conceded

There was a story circulating this week about the

All Blacks outstanding defenc

e, which was based around their tackle success percentage being the best in the tournament. That's a handy stat, but what tells you more about defence is how many points you concede. Fact 1: no team has won the World Cup that has conceded more than 12.3 points per game in pool play. Fact 2: the All Blacks have conceded 13.3 ppg in their three matches. Fact 3: Only Australia (9.6ppg) and Ireland (8.6ppg) are under the magic number. Supposition 1: The All Blacks cannot concede any more than nine points against Tonga to have a chance of lifting the Webb Ellis Cup.