The All Blacks have travelled to Wellington to prepare for the second Test against France in the knowledge they will have to make significant improvements and probably without their skipper Scott Barrett, who has an Achilles injury.
Barrett left the field just before the hour mark during last night’s hard-fought 31-27 victory in Dunedin and was limping today as he boarded the plane for the trip to the capital ahead of next Saturday’s clash.
Barrett, 31, will be a big doubt for that match and will likely to be touch-and-go to feature in the third and final Test in Hamilton the following weekend.
It will bring Patrick Tuipulotu into the second-row starting mix, and the Blues man will probably start alongside Fabian Holland, who distinguished himself on debut over the full 80 minutes. Ardie Savea will likely step up as captain.
The performance of Holland, only 22, will be a highlight for the coaches, who were also pleased with the contributions of the other three newcomers loose forwards Christian Lio-Willie and Du’Plessis Kirifi and prop Ollie Norris.
But any hope of a smooth progression of combinations throughout the series was dashed almost from the start.
Right wing Sevu Reece, who left the field with a head injury following a collision with only 57 seconds on the clock, will also almost certainly miss the Test at the Cake Tin, with Caleb Clarke coming into the frame for a start.
After a night when every All Black was reminded of the realities of Test rugby against a big, committed and wildly under-rated opposition, there will likely be mixed feelings in the camp.
On the one hand the All Blacks appeared on the brink of breaking away from an occasionally tired looking France, with Beauden Barrett, Will Jordan and Damian McKenzie in particular looking dangerous, but a combination of errors and three disallowed tries kept the visitors in it.
The longer the French, who scored three tries and troubled the All Blacks with their own attack, stayed in the game, the more energised they became, but while the home side’s defensive lapses will disappoint the coaches, their team's discipline and accuracy in the final quarter will please them.
If France knocking the ball on when attempting a last attack gave the All Blacks a boost, it was nothing on their scrum penalty to close the game out.
The All Blacks’ poor discipline and a lack of impact in the final quarter of last year’s four defeats was a major concern for Scott Robertson and company, so in some ways the team’s method of victory came from an unlikely source.
“There’s an old saying – sometimes you’ve got to win in the mud,” forwards coach Jason Ryan said this morning. “There was no mud out there we just found a way. There was grit and there was a lot of blood in the shed.
“Talking about discipline can make you a bit passive sometimes but we were really accurate when the game was tight and that’s the most pleasing thing.”
Beauden Barrett’s penalty with six minutes remaining, and Jordan’s second try after the fullback-turned-right wing opened the scoring for the home side in the first half, was the All Blacks’ lot as they were outscored two tries to one after the break.
While television match official Damon Murphy’s regular contributions to rule out tries for Jordan, Jordie Barrett and Billy Proctor were unwelcome for the All Blacks, France’s resilience was impressive.
Asked whether the commentary about France during the week from some places was unhelpful for his team, Ryan replied succinctly: "Probably from all places, to be fair."
It remains to be seen whether the lessons were learned, but they were certainly taught in an uncompromising way by an opposition determined to prove a few people wrong.
"The boys all said in the shed that nothing prepares them," Ryan said of the uniqueness of Test rugby.
"It's just a totally different contest. There's different pressures, the margins – you just can’t get away with anything.
"Now we know. We got the win, we found the way. It wasn't pretty and it's good for us.
"We showed some composure at the right time."
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