A day after the All Blacks’ epic defensive performance during their quarter-final victory over Ireland, All Blacks assistant coach Scott McLeod has lifted the lid on the extent of the commitment required to hold out the No.1-ranked team in the world.
The All Blacks had to make more than double the number of tackles than their previous best defensive performance in France, McLeod said, adding that the Irish series victory in New Zealand last year also forced them to change their whole defensive structure.
The most dramatic moments of the 28-24 victory at the Stade de France occurred during the final six minutes when the All Blacks were forced to defend 37 phases.
That they did without conceding a penalty or significant break helped them secure the win which put them into a semifinal against Argentina at the same venue next Saturday morning NZT.
Speaking to media just over 12 hours later, McLeod revealed the extent of his team’s efforts.
“Ireland have been the best team at holding on to the ball in that zone leading into this World Cup and during this World Cup. They’re extremely accurate and their ball security and maintenance is world class so we knew what we were up for. We expected that.
“However, we had to make 276 tackles last night. And 100 of those were in the last quarter, and particularly in those last 37 phases. The most we’ve had to make in this tournament, or attempt to make, was 136 against Italy, so there was a huge amount of ticker, Kiwi ticker if you like, that we wanted to get the job done.
“I’m really proud of that execution in that zone but also the decision making. The ball wasn’t there to take a number of times and we had to wait for the moment and execute really well. Sam Whitelock put himself into position twice to do that, so did Ardie [Savea]. We finally got it after that 37th phase.”
Cue tears from both teams. For Ireland, their failure to win a World Cup quarter-final now stands at eight tournaments. Many were distraught at the finish – most notably their top performers Johnny Sexton and Kiwis Bundee Aki and James Lowe – but, as McLeod explained, the All Blacks had to suffer last year to win this year.
“After the series loss at home last year, which really hurt, we had to look at some fundamentals in the defensive game for the All Blacks.
“A big part of that is in Super Rugby New Zealand, they tend to defend the man. So, they line up on the man. That doesn’t work against Ireland, it doesn’t work against Italy, it doesn’t work against France.
“We knew we had those teams more than likely at this World Cup so we had to develop our ability to defend the ball – wherever the ball is, we had to put people in front of that.
“What I’m alluding to is Ireland make you do that over and over again. They make you make a decision on the ball and you have to see that and be able to defend a man quickly.
“The most pleasing aspect is we have built the players’ skillset from last year... we’ve learned some really harsh lessons but last night the majority of the time we got that right. We had to get it right.”
The day after one of the best World Cup performances the All Blacks have been involved in was shaping up as a recovery day in every sense, McLeod said.
Fortunately, there appeared to be no significant injuries from the game despite the impacts and workloads shouldered by several players – skipper Sam Cane made a game-high 22 tackles – and McLeod said they would relax with their families, many of whom have made the trip to Paris, over dinner.
This week there will inevitably be a spotlight on the All Blacks’ flat semifinal performance against England four years ago and McLeod said he and the coaching group would be conscious of the need to re-set properly for a Pumas team that finished well over the top of Wales in their quarter-final in Marseille.
Touching on their defeat to England in Japan, McLeod said: “There were a couple of bits and pieces from there – our captain Kieran Read couldn’t train, there were disruptions, so we have to make sure we don’t have those disruptions and build the week with the quality and focus that we did last week. We respect Argentina, they’re a different beast to Ireland. We’ll slowly build the week.”
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