All Blacks vs England takeaways: The Perenara fade away, Razor's defensive concern

Scott Robertson was the first to admit there was plenty to work on following the 16-15 win over England, but was elated at the effort and grit of his side to get the result.

He lamented the missed opportunities in the first half, which he wanted to put England under scoreboard pressure and force them to chase the game.

Not coming up with two or three tries in that first half changed the complexion of the game and forced the All Blacks into an arm wrestle in the second.

We saw a number of new things from the All Blacks under Razor and his coaching staff, here are four takeaways from the first Test from a New Zealand perspective.

Counter-attack imperative

The All Blacks’ intent off turnover ball was very clear in Dunedin: use every opportunity from the free play.

Whilst not new for the All Blacks and something that was seen throughout Foster’s tenure, the ‘click’ plays in transition look to be back in a big way.

It took all of 39 seconds to see it when a high pass above Tommy Freeman’s head was scooped quickly by Sevu Reece. Within half a second four black jerseys swarmed around Reece down a five metre flank. The interlinking play finished with Samipeni Finau falling into touch despite a last ditch offload, but that intent continued all through the half.

Just seven minutes in, a Codie Taylor ruck steal 30 metres from their own line was quickly shovelled down the short side by Tyrel Lomax. Short, sharp passes attacked the condensed space and Perofeta slipped an offload in contact to Reece.

Before the half, a botched England strike play was sent across their own goal posts to Jordie Barrett for a scamper. After a change of possession the No 12 snatched a ruck steal which was the biggest opportunity to launch.

Ardie Savea’s inside pass to McKenzie was called forward, and Tommy Freeman snatched a smart intercept to kill off the play. A 90 metre All Black try went begging in the process.

This is the part of the All Blacks’ game that will put the world on notice. If these plays start coming together they will bury teams who want to throw the ball around but can’t.

Lots of shapes but second half fade

In phase play the All Blacks showed a lot of structure and different shapes and McKenzie played a steady hand running the show.

In the first half they really had to set up deep to negate some of the line speed, which to England’s credit did the job. The pressure forced enough slow passes that they were able to close on the open man.

Henry Slade was outstanding on the edge, as was Feyi-Waboso. George Furbank proved tough as nails, taking some decent shots from Sevu but also delivering one himself jamming in Rieko Ioane.

Each variation showed a lot of McKenzie playing out the back a lot, rolling off screens. A nice switch by TJ Perenara allowed Stephen Perofeta to expose England after beating his one-on-one. That was one of the few periods of attack the All Blacks were winning gain line.

In the second half without Perenara on the field, the All Blacks fell into static ball rendering most of the patterns useless. They found themselves going backward and resorting to the “grind” of the kicking game to win some penalties.

Not the worst outcome, they found way and did what they needed to get the result, but there is lots to think about in attack to build a platform that gives front foot ball.

TJ’s absence

Speaking of TJ’s absence, the Hurricane is now under an injury cloud, which throws doubt over how the side will be configured for the second Test.

Crusaders halfback Noah Hotham has been drafted in but wouldn’t be expected to see the field unless another No 9 goes down.

We saw forty minutes of Finlay Christie who struggled to deal with pressure at the breakdown at Test level a couple of times.

He got pinched by Maro Itoje, giving flashbacks of when Kwagga Smith stripped him for a try at Mt Smart last year.

To his credit, Christie’s box kicking was a big part of winning the second half, but the All Blacks’ attack has never really fired with Christie on the field, going back to 2023.

There is a big question mark there despite the continual selection. He needs a big showing at Test level and Eden Park might be his chance.

Ratima is the No 9 with the best pass in the country but he will likely get picked on the bench.

Nit picking the defence

The defence kept a pretty clean sheet, no penalties in the contact area and few at the breakdown, and in the end only conceded 15 points which at Test level is fantastic.

Nit picking the defence, if there was something to be concerned about it was the ease at which England made ground in the lead up to their tries.

Perhaps it was the fast track in Dunedin that played a part. Alex Mitchell probing around the rucks made big in roads. And that led to both tries.

Quick ball after a George Furbank kick return skinned the All Blacks down the blind, a nice flick pass kept the ball alive. They rumbled down and forced a goal line drop out.

After the restart, another Marcus Smith grubber trapped McKenzie on the side line and from the five metre lineout Maro Itoje grabbed his try a few phases into the movement.

In the second half after a short side raid that begun the momentum around halfway, Marcus Smith put Cunningham-South through a hole. Tommy Freeman came up metres short and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso finished off as the All Blacks just ran out of room to defend.

Their were some sloppy misses in those movements and not shutting down Mitchell proved costly.

The All Blacks were lucky in a sense that referee Nika Amashukeli loved pinging the side in possession of the ball, calling up sides for sealing off regularly.

Ardie Savea also came up with two massive ruck penalties on defence, both times coming inside their own 22 with England hot on attack.

The reason why it’s an issue is the All Blacks face the Springboks twice in South Africa, and Ireland and France away.

Those big sides will see how England were able to run over Robertson’s side and follow suit later in the year.