After the devastating turn of events of the past 24 hours for the All Blacks in Edinburgh, assistant coach Jason Ryan welcomed the opportunity to delve into some rugby chat.
By Stephen Foote
The emotional toll on Ryan’s face following the sudden death of head of security Logan Cadwallader at the team hotel was plain to see, but matters were swiftly and tastefully turned to the on-field challenge awaiting against Scotland on Sunday morning.
Fresh off a third-place finish in this year’s Six Nations, which included wins over both England and France, the resurgent Scots are far from the presumptive tick on the win column they used to be.
In fact, the last three encounters between New Zealand were settled by an average of just seven points.
Most recently, the teams played out a highly competitive test in November last year, when the All Blacks survived a trio of yellow cards to watch their 17-0 halftime lead evaporate, before some Damian McKenzie heroics spared them any further blushes in a 25-17 victory.
Ryan realises his team – and particularly the forward pack under his remit – will need to hit the ground running to avoid the ignominy of becoming the first All Blacks side in history to taste defeat against the Scots.
The key points of order in that regard – defence and discipline.
"Scotland have been together for a long time… probably six or seven years now," Ryan told NZ media on Tuesday. "Their playing group are pretty established. Their coaching group are pretty established.
"Last year we got off to a good start, and I think two or three yellow cards let them back in the game.
"They can play on top of you. They can use the ball really, really well with width, and they can get momentum pretty quick, so I think our defensive efforts will be really important this week."
The All Blacks fired some impressive warning shots during the Bledisloe Cup, where the synergy between backs and forwards showed the benefits of the coaching staff’s commitment to their cause of expansive rugby ended with two dominant victories over the Australians.
Ryan points to some of the lessons learned in South Africa for that progress, as well as the injection of Scott Barrett, who he credits with adding "a good solid platform and some real power" to the scrum.
Conditions likely won’t be as conducive to their preferred brand of rugby at Murrayfield, he conceded.
"We made some good shifts from a couple of lessons that we had in South Africa. We tidied up a couple of areas around probably our maul (defence) and we're pretty satisfied with how our ball carry and clean went using our footwork at the line.
"As we come to Europe, we know that the conditions are a little bit different over here potentially, with the colder weather. (We can’t be) forcing offloads that if they aren't there, the 50-50s that probably would stick in the games where we've had the sun at our backs for all of our test matches.
"Although we want to still get the boys to play with skill and offload in the tackle, we’ve just got to make sure we get the balance right there."
With Richie Mo’unga still recovering from the calf tear which ruled him out of the Bledisloe Cup series and "highly unlikely" to be available this weekend, Damian McKenzie seems likely to reprise his role in the No. 10 jersey, after starring against the Wallabies.
Flanker Ethan Blackadder is still on the mend from his own calf injury, with Ryan deeming him equally doubtful this weekend.
While the match is the first of three on their annual tour, the All Blacks hope that schedule extends another week to include the inaugural Nations Championship final.
Currently deadlocked with the Springboks atop the Southern Hemisphere conference, points differential may well be the deciding factor as to who advances to face the winner among their northern counterparts when they meet at Twickenham on November 29.
"We've talked about it, and a lot of that is really out of our control. We just want to win each game that's in front of us," Ryan said of the situation.
"I know it's cliché, but you know, you there's obviously going to be the points for and against the side of it, and then everyone plays in a month's time in the finals weekend.
"But we've prepared really genuinely against Scotland, and although we've had a bit of a roadblock today, we'll be ready to go."
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