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All Blacks credit 'composure' in overcoming spirited Uruguayan opening quarter
By Ned Lester
The All Blacks‘ mammoth round-four win over Italy put the team in control of their own destiny heading into the last round of pool play at the Rugby World Cup.
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Needing a bonus point win to secure their place in the quarter-finals, New Zealand dished Uruguay a hefty 73-0 defeat. All 73 of those points came after a stalemate opening quarter of the match.
When No 8 Luke Jacobson came up just short contesting the Uruguayan lineout, Los Teros surged forward to get front foot ball just a minute into the match and well within the All Blacks half.
A handling error returned the ball to New Zealand but only after Uruguay had pushed into the All Blacks’ 22. The tight opening sequence was a sign of things to come as both sides had tries disallowed in the game’s opening quarter.
Los Teros’ unrelenting start posed a sizable challenge for the All Blacks to overcome, which they managed to do in the 19th minute through Man of the Match Damian McKenzie.
The floodgates were then opened as 19 points followed before the halftime break.
“It was quite a tough test match,” captain Sam Cane said after the win. “Especially in that first half. We were made to really work for it.
“In that first 20 minutes, we showed some good composure and patience to not allow (errors) to creep in and we started getting some rewards.
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“I thought Uruguay, they have been outstanding this World Cup. I have enjoyed watching their passion and ability to throw the ball around so congratulations to them on a really good World Cup.”
Having pushed Pool A’s only undefeated team, France, right into the final quarter of their match in round two, Uruguay’s physicality was no surprise to the All Blacks.
Throughout the week, head coach Ian Foster referenced that France Test numerous times in assessing the threat of their opposition, noting the similar scoreline in both Uruguay and New Zealand’s losses against the tournament hosts.
The coach was pleased with the way his team responded to the challenge.
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“Really proud of it,” he told the press. “I thought Uruguay really honed in in that first 20 and they showed a massive degree of spirit and managed to slow the game down.
“We held our composure very well and were quite clinical, a little bit different from last week in that we had to grind our way through that contact area, it was hard to get quick ball but, pleased with the patience.
“We expected that sort of game, we talked about how this was going to turn into a bit of a bun fight at the breakdown.
“We flagged earlier we were really impressed with their work in the pool and it took us a while to break them down, they put a lot of energy into that period and reaped some rewards but it is how do you sustain that for 80 minutes?”
“Composure and patience”, I was actually thinking the opposite at the time. I was left wondering where the leadership was, I was waiting for someone to have a talk to the lads, some of the old clichés would have worked fine: settle down boys, respect the opposition, earn the right to go wide - you know, that type of thing. Looked like they wanted to score from every phase. Let’s hope that’s not the strategy for next week.
Buzzard’s guts, man: “Composure?”
Also, can’t wait for the odd Ireland “pundit” to spin: this is why Italy deserves to be out of the Six Nations, even Uruguay is not beaten as bad by the ABs.
Grt composure v Uruguay??? A true test of composure is when you are under pressure. Complete rubbish .
Just more spin from the Manager.
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Always worried with the same problems not fixed : ill discipline breakdown or lack of accuracy even turnovers by Uruguay.
Excuse me but I can t see all blacks beat Ireland with these problems.
I am waiting only with impatience Razor coming the 1er November to rebuild the réal all blacks machine without these problems.
You can’t win 🏆 with the worst coach in the history !