The All Blacks may have locked away the Bledisloe Cup for another year but this side can’t shake an uncomfortable truth: They are failing to close out games with the requisite ruthlessness Test rugby requires, writes Scotty Stevenson.
Quite why this is the case is a riddle Scott Robertson and his attack team are struggling to solve. Damian McKenzie’s ability to control the stretch has been called into question more than once this season, but it would be too simplistic to lay all the blame at his feet.
McKenzie has always been an expressive 10, a player who troubles defensive lines and who is capable of conjuring click plays from thin air. The All Blacks have trusted him because they are trying to bring chaos to the equation. Be careful what you wish for.
There is clearly a desire from the All Blacks team to play with tempo, but that game plan requires 15 moving parts clicking at the same time. That’s a tough assignment when you have a first five who is much more comfortable operating as a rogue element. And, as matches progress, the desire to become increasingly roguish is a tough one to suppress.
The opening try to Will Jordan was a prime example of this team’s mastery of the training ground play. The All Blacks have created a pseudo second line on attack courtesy of expert timing of the swivel pass (on this occasion from Tupou Vaa’i to Jordan) which allows the receiver to hide his line from the defence. There is great trust in these strikes early in the match, but that trust seems to evaporate later in matches.
McKenzie has looked terrific in patches throughout this rugby championship when his team are on his wavelength. If there is one area that must be addressed, it is his ability to organise the team in the final quarter. That is less about his skills as an athlete, and more about making his voice heard. "Mercurial" is not quite a 'don’t come Monday' from his coach, but it didn’t feel like a compliment.
Then again, the All Blacks are surely not looking for vanilla at pivot. They want to be the team setting the tone offensively and there are ways to do that with a healthy dash of flamboyance. It’s just how much sauce do you want on top?
This is a run and gun team, a team that looks like it wants to ball at every opportunity – which is why the last 10 minutes of the match should be heavily scrutinised. Possession is not just preferable when short a man (or two), it is an imperative. The Wallabies enjoyed a staggering 81% of the ball in the last 10 minutes, serving only to put unnecessary strain on the defence.
In the second test against South Africa, the Springboks had 65% possession in the final 10 minutes, in the first test they had 67%. The Argentinians enjoyed 80% of the ball in the last 10 minutes of their victory in Wellington. The English held a 72%-28% possession advantage in the second test of the July series.
There have only been three matches this season during which the All Blacks have had an advantage in this statistic, but on each occasion that advantage has been a slim one. In the demolition of the Pumas at Eden Park and the crushing of Fiji in San Diego, the All Blacks held 56% of the ball in the last 10 minutes. In the 16-15 victory over England and Forsyth Barr, that figure was 51%.
This is the pattern that is causing the most angst. The All Blacks want to play rugby and opposition teams simply aren’t giving them that chance in the stretch. That can’t all be put on Damian McKenzie. There is a collective responsibility to tighten up, forgo the loose pass and carry, and to show the patience needed to keep the ball live. That is where the bench must collectively lift, and when the leaders must be better at finding ways to keep the offence in alignment.
There are green shoots emerging. Cortez Ratima and Wallace Sititi look built for test rugby, and certainly for the type of game this team wants to play. Sititi’s support play was at times sublime in Sydney, and to see a raging blindside flanker linking in open play is a welcome sight for those that admired the work of Jerry Collins and Jerome Kaino. Tupou Vaa’i is another who is making the jersey his own.
Those who expected wholesale changes from this new All Blacks regime may have been left underwhelmed so far this season, but there is a revolution by stealth occurring in this team – it is just a little short on execution.
The All Blacks are desperate to play an exciting game, one that allows them to express their athleticism. It’s just a question now of fitting the right parts to the plan. Those mentioned above – and others – have revealed themselves to be fit for purpose. The game drivers have a responsibility now to ensure they have the ball they need to finish the job.
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