There is an old rugby coaching adage that applies to the All Blacks right now as they prepare to play South Africa in Cape Town after their loss at Ellis Park which boils down to this: don’t focus on your weaknesses at the expense of your strengths.
In other words, the challenge for the All Blacks this week is to avoid getting caught up in what went wrong during the 31-27 defeat to the world champions.
Rather, the message will be to try to extend the good elements, and there were plenty as acknowledged this morning by assistant coach Scott Hansen.
After saying rather succinctly: “essentially, we had them on the ropes and we didn’t finish it”, Hansen said: “When you feel a bit of hurt and pain you still have to look at the things you did well. There were 60-odd minutes of us doing really well and influencing a Test exactly how we needed to.
“There were a lot of positives when you look at our ability to find space, to get around the South Africans. Also, our defence in particular was very strong in certain areas of the field. We influenced them around our lineout too at times.”
All of which may leave the coaches with mixed emotions and it may be difficult to keep minds focused on the present rather than the picture Hansen painted of a wounded Boks team almost out on their feet.
Ultimately, the All Blacks need to find a better balance with their kicking game on Sunday morning NZT because after putting themselves in the winning position of a 10-point lead with 20 minutes remaining, they suddenly became too conservative.
In scoring four tries to three – a maul try for Codie Taylor, two for Caleb Clarke after flowing attacks, and an excellent intercept from near halfway for Jordie Barrett – the All Blacks displayed the intensity, execution and skillset that was largely superior to the Boks.
It probably explained Scott Robertson’s relatively buoyant mood the day after the Test because it showed they, and he, are on the right track attacking-wise, a welcome confirmation following the recent shock departure of assistant coach Leon MacDonald.
In looking ahead, loose forward Dalton Papali’i is likely to be available after good recent reports on the thumb injury which kept him out last weekend, but it’s difficult to see the selectors wanting to tinker with a starting pack which performed well in Johannesburg.
Loose trio Ethan Blackadder, Sam Cane and Ardie Savea were outstanding in terms of their workrate and defensive pressure.
Blackadder said this morning: "We are disappointed we could not finish the job but we had a lot of fun out there. We are focusing on some small margins.
"We could not close it out the way we wanted to and that is our focus. We needed to keep playing footy."
If fit, Papali’i could be selected on the bench ahead of Samipeni Finau, however.
It’s also possible that Beauden Barrett could be selected on the bench to allow Will Jordan to play fullback which could give the Crusader more time on the ball and allow Barrett to provide a spark in the final quarter which was badly missed last weekend.
Extending the potential good vibes in the camp will be Clarke’s finishing form and ability under the high ball, Taylor’s performance at hooker along with that of the two starting props Tamaiti Williams and Tyrel Lomax, and Tupou Vaa’i’s continued development alongside skipper Scott Barrett.
Predicting what Boks head coach Rassie Erasmus will do is less straightforward given his penchant for making late changes – veteran lock Eben Etzebeth was unavailable due to a knee injury until he suddenly was and named on the bench, for example – but impressive first-five Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 22, is likely to be retained.
Erasmus is unlikely to be able to twist the availability of loose forward Siya Kolisi given the Boks' skipper suffered a broken cheekbone last weekend.
“They probably feel they can adjust into the second Test because of the result of the first,” Hansen said.
“They’ve got a lot of depth and talent, does that mean Rassie sees this as a chance to give others a game? We need to focus on what we can control which is our preparation… it’s just as important that we adjust.”
As is now traditional in Cape Town, the All Blacks received a warm welcome on arrival at the airport. The last time they played in the city was in 2017, when the visitors prevailed 25-24.
“We know there are a lot of All Blacks fans in Cape Town,” Hansen said. “We’re looking forward to going out and seeing them during our week and also performing in front of them.”
SHARE ME