One of the features of the All Blacks’ victory over Scotland in their Northern Tour opener on Sunday was the success of their offence from setpiece.
Four of the visitors’ seven tries in the 43-21 win were a direct result of rehearsed moves at Murrayfield, with the forwards as involved as the backs, leveraging the foundation set by their dominant scrum and lineout.
Of the more impressive was Asafo Aumua’s, using a misdirection from to swing blindside and create an overlap for Peter Lakai to exploit with a deft ball to the hooker on an inside line to the chalk.
Wallace Sititi’s opener was another brilliant example of deception, with Lakai used as a decoy peeling from the lineout maul to allow the No. 8 to split from his seemingly innocuous position as a binder to break free and score untouched.
Beauden Barrett’s second half try came after hooker Codie Taylor was used as an extra man in the backline, sucking in defenders to open a one-on-one opportunity for Damian McKenzie to bounce around his man and hand Barrett his brace.
All Blacks wing Josh Moorby says their success is simply the byproduct of a commitment to their cause in training, where endless rehearsal and meticulous fine-tuning help make them second nature.
“We draw them up pretty early in the week, and we really try and nail them down and get all our roles pretty clear in the detail or the finer detail within them,” Moorby said.
“It's very pleasing to be able to have those moves and put them into put them onto the paddock and then score from them.”
Providing extra motivation has been attack coach Mike Blair, who’s established a monetary rewards system attributed to setpiece excellence.
Blair allows All Blacks midfielder Quinn Tupaea to select two plays per week, and if the All Blacks score from them, he contributes money to a pool.
Moorby’s try cost the Scot $250, coming off the back of a dominant scrum and pinpoint long pass from Jordie Barrett in one such selection from his backline cohort.
“The first time I head about that was last week. I’d like to get involved though,” said Moorby.
Senior assistant coach Neil Barnes credited Jason Ryan for helping the All Blacks establish the edge at scrumtime to maximise the impact of those plays.
The European approach of incorporating backs to defend lineout mauls was an area they’d targeted to expose during their preparations, he added.
“He’s been chipping away there, and we actually got a lot of dominance in that area and we managed to pull off a couple of special plays as well.
“They're pretty good at defending their mauls over here. But we'd like to think if they're going to put everyone into the mall, do there'll be opportunities around the edges of them.
You can expect the All Blacks’ coaching staff to have concocted another range to unleash on Sunday morning against the embattled Welsh, who may well represent little more than a training run for the All Blacks.
If the gears click in the fashion they did against Scotland, a fourth straight score of 50-plus points in Cardiff is a near-certainty.
Barnes hinted there were a few more primed and ready up the All Blacks’ sleeves.
“Absolutely, 10 or 20,” he joked. How many?
“At the end of the day, we just assess each team on how they go about their work, and if there's an opportunity there, we'll have a crack at it.”
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