The All Blacks may have been unfortunate that their uneven 64-19 victory over Japan in Yokohama came a couple of hours after a classic NPC final and during the final stages of New Zealand’s extraordinary series-sealing victory over India in the second cricket Test in Pune.
If you were after sporting drama, the Test at Nissan Stadium came a distant third.
To a certain extent, the All Blacks may also have been victims of their own second-quarter excellence, when — after a competitive start from the Brave Blossoms — the home side were destroyed by an avalanche of tries that highlighted how ruthless and skilful these All Blacks can be when they are in the mood.
Yes, Japan have never beaten the All Blacks (although they gave them a minor scare two years ago by getting to within a converted try), so the jeopardy required for the best sporting theatre was never likely to be present.
Yet, after scoring seven first-half tries against the 14th-ranked team in the world, the coaching staff would have expected a similarly accurate second-half performance, despite the raft of changes made in the 44th and 51st minutes, but instead, coach Scott Robertson’s players fell into some bad habits.
The pressure was off in terms of the result, so the All Blacks went away from the fundamentals that had served them so well in providing tries for Billy Proctor, Sam Cane, Samipeni Finau, Pasilio Tosi and Tamaiti Williams in a devastating 18-minute stretch.
On the eve of Halloween, the spectre of their final-quarter curse from the Rugby Championship, supposedly buried by the second Bledisloe Cup Test win in Wellington last month, even threatened to return, before Test debutant Ruben Love scored two converted tries in the final three minutes.
'Chaos' - watch TVNZ's analysis of the Test by Scotty Stevenson and Patrick McKendry here
This was unexpected to say the least and a failure of sorts, given Robertson's message before this Test was again all about finishing opportunities.
“We weren’t urgent enough,” Robertson told the Sky TV broadcast on the sideline afterwards – an accurate and yet damning description given, firstly, that this was a Test match, and, secondly, that looming on the horizon are away assignments against England, Ireland, France and Italy.
“Discipline and errors,” he said, when asked about the drop off in the second half. “When we did defend, we turned the ball over and gave the ball back to them by kicking.
"When we had opportunities, there were simple knock-ons, and so we gave the ball back to them too easily, but they learned how to defend didn’t they?”
Seemingly out on their feet in the second quarter, Japan certainly did, but this side, coached by Eddie Jones and missing inspirational injured skipper Michael Leitch, are not a particularly good one.
They were beaten 41-17 by Fiji in the final of the Pacific Nations Cup at Osaka last month and Jones revealed afterwards that he told his players to limit their kicking in the second half to prepare them for a strategy he wants to implement for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
The All Blacks had been in Tokyo for 10 days preparing for this Test, but their relatively inexperienced opponents settled far more quickly and, in another potential red flag before, next Sunday morning’s Test at Twickenham, their huge pack featuring 140kg-plus props Tamaiti Williams and Pasilio Tosi tried, but failed to win a scrum penalty until the 65th minute.
So what now? Given the changes made and inexperience present on the pitch, there may be a desire from the coaching team to focus only on the good elements from the performance, and they would be skipper Patrick Tuipulotu’s workrate and leadership at lock, Cam Roigard’s return from injury at halfback, and Test debuts for outside back Love and loose forward Peter Lakai.
Flanker Samipeni Finau gave his famously hard shoulders a workout in the second half and No.8 Wallace Sititi was consistently excellent again, as we have become accustomed to seeing.
For the rest of us, there will be a temptation to look straight towards a difficult assignment at Twickenham and a likely starting line-up that, in terms of those involved last night, could include Roigard, Sititi and Sam Cane. Mark Tele’a on the right wing is another possibility.
Unfortunately for Damian McKenzie, another hot-and-cold performance is likely to keep him on the bench for the next three weeks, with Beauden Barrett, already in London with several other key men, enhancing his reputation without stepping foot on the pitch.
“I won’t give too many names,” replied Robertson, when asked about who could back up again next Sunday.
“A couple of guys will be starting next week and it gives them valuable game time. A couple of guys coming back from injury — I think it’s a well-balanced squad, but we’ve got a hell of a group waiting for us.”
An update from Robertson today confirmed that loose forward Luke Jacobson would not be joining the squad due to his fractured thumb, but that flankers Ethan Blackadder (calf) and Dalton Papali'i (hamstring) were on track to be available for the Ireland or France Tests.
'Chaos' - watch TVNZ's analysis of the Test by Scotty Stevenson and Patrick McKendry here
SHARE ME