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Scott Hansen on the certain Springboks flavour in All Blacks win
By Ned Lester
A 64-19 win has spiked the usage of the term “pleased” within the All Blacks coaching group considerably as the team began their final slate of 2024 Tests on a high in Tokyo.
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There were indeed plenty of positives to be found throughout the 80 minutes, although defensively, the opening 20 minutes saw Japan score two well-orchestrated tries while a 30-minute period during the second half saw a familiar quiet period from the Kiwis where no points were registered in their favour.
The second half of Tests throughout the 2024 Rugby Championship were trying for the All Blacks, with leads slipping and deficits worsening against each of their three opponents.
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One thing you can count on though is New Zealand’s ambition persevering, and as their 10 tries attest, there was plenty of attacking intent in Tokyo.
“Really pleasing, we had a performance we can build off,” assistant coach Scott Hansen reviewed following the final whistle, speaking to Sir John Kirwin for The Breakdown.
“At times, our support play and ability to keep the ball alive, some really good defensive sets also. We were challenged, we had to adjust during it, there were moments there that took a lot of composure. The boys did that well.
“Pleasing around the leadership as well, really happy for Patty (Tuipulotu) today, leading the All Blacks and leading really well.”
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Tuipulotu became the 82nd All Blacks captain over the weekend in an impressive 80-minute performance from the 31-year-old.
While the skipper’s shift lasted the whole game, five of his counterparts from the forward pack were replaced simultaneously at the 50-minute mark, a strategy commonly employed by South Africa when deploying their famous bomb squad.
“I must admit, sitting in the stand when the boys went out, it was a familiar look we’ve seen around the world,” the coach grinned, reflecting on the moment.
“But, it shouldn’t matter. Whether you go on as an individual or two, three, four, five, you’re going on to a Test match, just be ready and perform well.
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“Yes, the tempo, we dropped off around the accuracy in our game to be fair. Some discipline around our defence, we turned some ball over and kicked back to them. So, there’s some learnings there for sure, there always is.
“But I don’t believe we look at the three, four, five that go on at the same time and say it’s that moment, I just think we need to be better.”
With the noted struggles late in recent contests, the coaching staff have been active in searching for solutions. Reshuffling the matchday 23 to better distribute the youth and experience while lifting intensity have been the big foci so far, and it appears taking a leaf out of the world champions’ book may have just been a one-off.
Looking ahead to their European tour, Hansen acknowledged the lineup of opponents – England, Ireland, France and Italy – makes it one of the most challenging in recent memory.
“You take each game as it comes but there must be a process, so you work towards what that can look like each week. The fact is, it’s a very tough three weeks, very challenging. We’re excited for it.
“It’s a massive opportunity to see where we’re at as a group. We’ll learn from it. There is planning in behind what that may look like, but it’s the adjustment that we’ll need to facilitate each week. The first focus will always be what the next Test is, and that’s England.”
I bet all the players switch off when Scott Hansen talks, he’s so monotone and boring. I’d rather watch paint dry.
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So Hansen's contribution to coaching is to copy the SA "Bomb Squad"? yeah, that mass substitution worked really well, the whole attack just died in the second half, as usual. This coaching "team" is just Foster Lite, sack the lot and give the job to Cotter.
Of course the thing is when our replacements came on our game became disjointed, when SA do it they continue to play seamlessly. The AB's used to be like that & hopefully we can return to that sooner than later. These upcoming games are going to be fascinating that's for sure.
I don't know if I'd blame the bench for that. SA's also used some in experienced players that didn't look settled, but overall their structure held and they grew and grew (control of how they wanted to play till the 80th minute).
Sure, if there was a weakness having a bomb squad come on could paper over the cracks. If Aumua had been built up like in the SA'n system, and had these last half a dozen games over the last couple of years instead of Taylor being run into the ground so that they had to have to give him half the season off, and if they had a little better luck with injuries could have seen Vai'i and Sititi coming off the bench to provide their impact along with a explosive front row, it might have changed things a lot.
But as I have suggest in some other articles, I actually think were fortunate that didn't happen, as it might have paper over these cracks that I think run a lot deeper. They started getting disjointed (were a bit in the first h as well) before the subs arrived imo. I think its a blessing in disguise almost!
Maybe Hansen should focus on defense and the soft tries we are conceeding? seems like he just spouts a bunch of fluff
He's already handed that off to Tamati, I can't imagine he wants that job back anytime soon!