All Blacks vs England takeaways: Richie Who? Time for Cortez

Christie was simply too slow at scrum and ruck. And the rush defence easily capitalized. TJ was quicker but his pass was labored and often the receivers were waiting that split second too long. Aaron smith’s pass was like a bullet and that was the luxury to mitigate the rush defence he was able to set the backline flying on the front foot. Cortez was a breath of fresh air the dynamics of the game changed. Even Barrett was back at his best because he received fast ball and he regained the split Second timing to produce those touches that we've been missing all because the abs became weak in the halves. I’m excited by this young fullah at half back I hope he gets to start.

McKenzie was not as good as this article portrays. Richie Mo’unga is needed and would blossom under Razor as he did at the Crusaders. Major surgery is needed in the loose forwards , Ethan Blackadder should have been played in the last test. Finau did nothing in those two tests. Reiko is hopeless at 13, a wing option only.

Mounga will be back next year .

Small mistake for Telea’s second try. The cover defender is Marcus Smith as Steward was left behind by Barrett’s break

Correct analysis of Perofeta’s bungling of the try opportunity Ben. Never ‘fixed’ Steward as he came across in defence and passed too early. Steward didn’t have to break his stride and simply moved on to pressure Telea. Never scanned the easier option of passing to the two supporting players on the inside. Beauden Barrett showed how it is done when he put Telea in for his try. Another point from the game is that the rush defence is hard to maintain as the number of phases increases. From scrums the defensive line only contains backs who all have roughly the same pace. Once forwards are involved, the defence has players with variable speeds often leading to a jagged line. It also tends to lose pace overall giving the attack more time and space. Beauden Barrett’s break to set up Telea’s try came because Baxter went in to tackle McKenzie and Steward went out to cover Telea. Barrett has a massive hole to run through, then commits Steward by passing as late as possible and Telea scores untouched.

Another comment I would make is that Ben Earl is a good player and generally an excellent defender but he made three significant misses in the series, two of which led to All Black tries. Got stepped by Perofeta in Dunedin for Savea’s try, missed McKenzie in Auckland leading to what should have been a certain try being set up by Perofeta and was one of the tacklers who couldn’t stop Savea in the leadup to Telea’s first try. Perhaps he should contact Owen Farrell to pick up a few tips from ‘tackle school’.

You Poms and Paddies are really nice guys.

New Zealand V Ireland - 37 Tests - N.Z. 31 Wins - Ireland 5 Wins - 1 draw.

New Zealand V England - 45 Tests - N.Z. 35 Wins -England 8 Wins - 2 draws.

Combined - You have beaten the All Blacks 13 Times in 82 attempts over 119 years.

The Stats over 100 years + would say, especially England with 6 Times the player pool

than New Zealand, you have “a limitation of context” regarding developing your coaches to teach your players how to WIN.

So how can England with a 6 times the player numbers have a 17% winning strike rate against New Zealand? and be 8 -0 in Test Series over 100 years.

The answer is simple. Your perception of the game. How do you fix it? You need to play in New Zealand for a couple of seasons in your teens, 18 -20 or send coaches over here.

Martin Johnstone played 2 seasons here under the mentorship of Colin Meads. When he came here he had rugby shorts with pockets and a handkerchief in one pocket.

He played for NZ Under 21 against Wallaby John Eales. He became the toughest player in the game and the best ever English Captain and Captained the Lions twice.

Legend!

Maybe if he hadn’t come to New Zealand, he may still had those rugby shorts with pockets.

Recently Rogan O’Gara spent time at the Crusaders. What a great coach. “Our “mindset is different” and that’s how we have beaten you for 100 years +

How the hell he isn’t Coaching Ireland, France, England, Wales, or Scotland I will never know?

England has 131,000 Senior rugby Players.

Ireland has 21,000 Senior Players.

New Zealand has 27,000 Senior Players.

A couple of counter/additional points here:

1) The lineout troubles can’t really be put on Taylor. The ABs won 10 of 13 lineouts (including 2 steals of their own). 2 of the 3 that they lost were dropped by the jumper as they were coming to ground. The other was a bad throw and looked like a miscommunication - Savea goes up for a dummy jump with the throw intended to go to Barrett at the back, but it looks like Taylor throws to Savea who has no lift, so it goes straight to Itoje.

2) You mentioned Mackenzie’s kicking game was vital but his contestable kicking was very poor - all three of the bombs he put up were at least 10-25 meters too far and were a waste of possession.

His game otherwise was excellent.

3) Christie’s box kicking was also extremely poor - he put up 4 or 5 but only had 1 that was contestable.

Contestable kicking was a highlight of all of the AB victories in 2023 with Beauden Barrett being a key contributor there.

I like McKenzie and he's a high quality player for his size but the second test was lost until Beauden came in and took charge. There's a reason why Mounga and Beauden were preferred at the world cup. There's a reason why Beaudens been in the tip 23 at the last three world cups.

Lot of “Work to be done” Lineout, Half Back and Midfield. Yet, AB’s still managed to WIN. . .We beat the “POMS” who had beaten France at Lyons in 6 Nation,. . .This was our second Test under a new Management and Coach.

A great effort! Let’s enjoy each WIN! I would play all those new guys against Fiji.

You can see BB enjoying “The New environment” and wait until they unleash Sititi…

Google: “Sititi scores stunner 2003 World Cup Samoa v England”

Carbon copy of Dad just a bit quicker. . . Ardi who?

But lets be clear B Barrett is not an option for 2027. He remains good for impact and to cover Jordan for injury, which Jordan does pick up alot. But we need the next gen in action now. Locks remain the big concern though. And why is noone talking about ioane. So absent from the game we have forgotten him.

Cant deny Christie is a good defender, box kicks well at times, BUT he’s a second too slow passing from the ground. Roigard, Ratima and Hotham will be our 2027 halfbacks

I believe DMAC has played reasonably well in both games, so deserves to keep his place - his two breaks at Eden Park should have resulted in tries. Reece was really to blame for the Taylor failure - he stayed too wide, if he had come in a couple of meters the pass from Taylor would have worked. The Perofeta failure was extraordinary, he is normally such a good distributor, failure to draw in Steward was remarkable, failure to look inside was a shocker.

Cory Flynn as lineout coach… umm something a miss here. Not sure who is calling the lineouts, but clearly we miss Whitelock’s leadership. Having a disfunctional line out really underminded the AB attack. But let’s remind ourselves Itoje is a master, and their tactics of going for the arms of the jumper on landing and pulling over was brilliant causing Paddy and Scooter to both fumble the balls.

I am a Blues supporter so I like Talea, but if you play him on the wrong wing look out. While he’s not the fastest wing, he’s elusive and very industrious always looking for work. However, he’s not the tallest player, and everyone knows his weakness (a) being turned in defence - he’s slow to turn and react and (b) never jumps for high balls is normally out jumped.

Personally, I find Recce and Talea too alike - Razor needs to couple them with another complementary partner Clark and Narawa respectively.

However, for me the real troubling challenge is our mid-field. I am sorry Barrett & Ioane are a poor combo - either Barrett & Proctor or ALB & Ioane - but having two mid-fielders who are poor distributors is nuts. Jordie had a forgettable game in truth he missed so many tackles, which to be fair is unlike him. But sadly both Barrett and Ioane chose to bash first and rarely distribute cleanly.

Felt Mackenzie went pretty well, rushed d put him under pressure,but no different from anyone else in the 10. Hard one with bb definitely a big plus being able to bring him on 20 or 25 out. Still think rattima's passing game puts him at the fore especially with rush defence. If anything bring Christy on when the defense is tiring.

He didn't show up in final,and Barrett is better we need to pick reliable players. To many hot and cold All Blacks in last few years?

No need to disrespect Richie Mounga, in making a point. Let alone mangle his proud name. Clown.

Great article. Finally a writer that watches DM from a rugby players perspective without some sort of “He runs sideways” sort of BS that infiltrates.

Surely we see Ratima, DM, bb at 9, 10 and 15 in future.

Fabulous article to put out in front of all the naysers Ben, and I agree with every word.

Not that we are trying to point to certain individuals that are lacking, Perofeta had two really good games, and even our first choice players like JBarrett and Reiko don’t yet have simple things like an offloading game let alone a blind (it was from a more difficult side angle than Beaudens, no?) draw and pass like that.

Can’t wait to see what other players can bring.

Need to start Cortez immediately. And now Finlay’s injured I guess Noah Hotham gets a spot on the bench.

The All Blacks will need to watch themselves against Fiji, they aren’t going to be a simple go through the motions and get a win sort of team.