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'It's opened the door': All Blacks wary of teams using Springbok blueprint
By Ned Lester
With all eyes on the Rugby World Cup opening match between hosts France and the All Blacks, the New Zealand side are keen to move on from the historic defeat South Africa handed them just two weeks ago.
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Heading into the Twickenham Test, the All Blacks’ biggest-ever losing margin was 21 points, a deficit suffered twice at the hands of the Wallabies on Australian soil – both also in World Cup years (2019 and 1999).
The 35-7 dismantling inflicted by the Springboks comfortably took the crown as the heaviest defeat New Zealand have ever suffered and put an end to the team’s 11-game unbeaten run.
A historic loss just two weeks out from a Rugby World Cup has invalidated New Zealand’s title aspirations in the eyes of some. But the beating, within the context of the match, didn’t stress All Blacks head coach Ian Foster. That’s not to say he enjoys being reminded of it.
“It was a beautiful day out there, I woke up really happy this morning, went for a lovely walk and now you’ve asked me about that again,” Foster smirked when asked for an updated reflection on the match.
“First lesson: Have 15 men on the field. When you lose an experienced guy who has been your power player and you lose him from your pack then you do become very vulnerable.
“That’s one key lesson and it’s going to be one key lesson going into the World Cup that we all know but we’ve just got to make sure that we really work hard on the discipline side of our game to keep it 15 on 15.
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“If we’ve got 15 on 15 I’m very confident in that space.
“What we had to do was we had to adapt to a strategy, we had Josh Lord come on, we had Tamaiti Williams, we had Fletcher Newell; Fletcher hasn’t played much rugby this year, Tamaiti’s only played a couple of test matches and there’s some massive learning going on there.
“The speed in which you have to react against a very experienced Springbok team, and they utilised their front and their back particularly well. They only had one lineout maul go through us, so they were smart and they were smart against a team with a red card.
“So the lessons are pretty simple, to be honest. I don’t think there’s anything there that we don’t really know, we’ve just got to get better and better.
“But it’s certainly, it’s opened the door for others to come and try to exploit that and we’ve got to make sure we respond.”
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Improved discipline and set-piece strength will be essential if the Kiwis are to match up against the French, who will be cheered on by an 80,000-strong contingent of Les Bleus fanatics.
Forwards coach Jason Ryan echoed the sentiment shared by Foster, emphasising the impact of the red card and the experience of the young players who saw extended minutes.
The coaches and captain again voiced their view that the Springboks were throwing their jumpers across the lineout and landing “on top” of the New Zealand pack.
Ultimately, they say it’s up to themselves to adapt to the game.
“We’ve got to make some shifts and clearly adapt around a few things,” Ryan said.
“We’ve got to be a bit smarter around that area.”
Twickenham was a glimpse into the future of international rugby. If the Boks can reproduce this same power & skill, and clever team selection fielding a fresh forward pack for each half, they will be unbeatable. The Saffas, with 60 million population, are the only country that sources all its national team from home grown talent with future superstars with equal opportunity, queuing up. The Boks domination of the rugby world has only just begun. Get used to it!
Well said William. Foster is part of the "Old Boys Club" that has plagued the NZRFU, since it began.
Hopefully the latest review will oust Mark Robinson and his board of "Incompetents"
We might even oust ALTRAD as our Front Of Shirt Sponsor after MOHED ALTRAD was convicted of Bribery and given two years prison sentence although suspended.
I think Ireland can dominate us as they did in their tour of New Zealand.
I think Antoine Du Pont will control the game. Although everyone knows that, he has so many "options in his skill set"
Whatever counter Foster "introduces to his tactics to stop Du Pont". Du Pont will always be one step ahead.
I just hope we don't result to "questionable tactics to stop him"?
I am sure the referee will be well aware of that possibility.
Discipline is an attitude William and you are right, it can't be "eradicated in 10 days. You either have it or you don't.
Fitzpatrick a great player and cheat but never got caught. I wonder why?
When the "Pressure was overbearing, we were being beaten in all aspects of the game, our discipline cracked and we were penalised.
The three D's of a champion, Discipline, Determination and Dedication. Discipline is the most important. You can have the other two, but without Discipline, you're Brown Bread.
The 3 Barrett Boys have 33% of all All Black Red Cards ever issued
since the All Blacks played their first Test Match.
I would have loved to watch those back yard rugby games.
So, let me get this right, Fossie says it was simply the Boks 'landing on our side of the line' and a little discipline issue and all is well? They're going to thump the French? He suggests that other countries are going to try cheat the same way the Boks cheated or that they are going to try and apply the same suffocating pressure to force the discipline issues to resurface again?
He was outsmarted and his team was outmuscled, his team's lack of discipline was exposed and there are only two teams that can dominate the ABs pack to produce that sort of crucible; the Boks and the French.
A culture of ill-discipline cannot be erased in ten days. Most pundits say the ABs merely had an off-day. Bullpoop.
The AB defense was magnificent! Any other team would have leaked two, three tries. Foster knows it, Bok fans know it. And deep down he knows they were never going to win that game. The fake winks that Cane and Savea exchanged at the fifteen minute mark reminded me of the 'F*#k me,' that Lawes uttered when he surfaced after that first ruck in the Japan Final; Shock.
The ABs thrive off the riposte, but they weren't able to even get the sword out of its sheath, not enough depth to run it behind and Duhan vd Merwe showed the Boks the crack in their defensive posture close to the opponent's tryline last year when the Boks started evolving the 1,000kiloton press tactic at Murrayfield. (There's a reason Moodie and Reinach - the fourth scrummie? - were in that team ... pace, pace, pace to reel them in from behind.) Reinach pulled down Duhan last year, Remember? And was ten inches too late on Roigard.
Galthie is not a moron, they already have the sparkle behind the scrum, they only need to not relieve the sustained pressure by taking penalties, emulate the SA model and they will get a comfortable win this Friday. Then Foster will probably face the Boks again in the Quarters ... and then we will see if he is able to lift his team enough after two major losses in four games to force a different outcome. I doubt it.