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The All Blacks on England's blitz defence and how they will respond at Eden Park
By Ben Smith
England came out breathing fire in Dunedin with rapid line speed in their aggressive defensive system against the All Blacks.
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The first possession was a chaotic sequence with Rieko Ioane getting free down the left edge, but without momentum as the pressured pass hit his back shoulder, before he linked with Mark Tele’a. The delay allowed England to close.
That was the story of the night as the All Blacks managed to get the ball into the space often but England’s pressure successfully slowed any momentum, allowing their cover defence to clean up.
Head coach Scott Robertson praised England’s ability to bring that kind of heat on defence, but he was optimistic having seen opportunities out there that went unfinished.
“There is only a few teams in the world who can bring it that quick, South Africa probably being the other, just in terms of genuine [pressure],” he said in his post-game comments.
“The second, third pass, they give the outside you know and ‘we will go get ya’ when the ball is in the air. We created some opportunities you know, but we just didn’t quite finish enough in the first half to get a couple of scores so they had to chase the game.
“When it was close, TJ got injured, obviously start of the second half we got into a grind and just found a way.”
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It was a challenge that All Black wing Sevu Reece said “they knew was coming” but the backs couldn’t quite capitalise enough on.
The right winger alluded to changes at Eden Park as the side looks for more solutions.
“They’ve played a few Tests, you know the Six Nations and in Japan, we knew that was coming,” Reece said, ” but they do it so well.”
“That’s the thing you know. They do it really well and they stopped us a few times from getting out wide.
“We will have to come back next week and learn from that and come up with other strategies.”
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The All Blacks did unlock the England defence twice down the right side in the first half.
The first try came from a cross-field kick from Damian McKenzie to Reece in open pasture after multiple phases of front foot momentum.
England had been shortened up after a punch up the middle from Mark Tele’a and the “kick pass” from McKenzie to Reece delivered the blow.
Again it was down the right side when fullback Stephen Perofeta pierced the line, using smart footwork to bounce around No 8 Ben Earl before linking with Ardie Savea floating on the right wing.
First five-eighth Damian McKenzie had a poised game and was influential in both tries. It was McKenzie who often found the right pass to get the ball to the space, but he credited England’s system with having an impact.
“When the ball is in the air a long time with our long passes, it gives them time to get up and spot tackle,” McKenzie said.
“Whether it is shortening our passes up and trying to get that ball to space, the space is there but the way England defend, they make it tough to get it to that space.
“We will look at it this week but I think we did a great job at times and there are a few times we could’ve been a bit better.”
Watch the exclusive reveal-all episode of Walk the Talk with Ardie Savea as he chats to Jim Hamilton about the RWC 2023 experience, life in Japan, playing for the All Blacks and what the future holds. Watch now for free on RugbyPass TV
Not sure why there is huge concern
Many changes to the ABs and many players who haven’t played for a long time
Scooter for two months
Saders players several weeks
Canes a few weeks and guys like Lomax have also had a domestic sabbatical- so hardly any minutes
New coaching team and lots for the players to digest
Nothing changes - it will be another very tough match next week against a desperate England
Has anyone seen or heard anything from Redandwhitedynamite? I’m worried about him. Without his absurd drivel this site is too sane for words. It’s disturbing.
Forwards & kicks play to the sidelines for backs to play across the field to stretch the defense. OR same play to the middle, keep the defense guessing & splitting.
Ben, I would highly suggest you invest in some editing/proofreading software. This writing is a complete shambles. Order your thoughts, and then logically sequence
In handing Robertson his first international victory, Borthwick showed the ABs England’s defense.
Next week, in handing Robertson his first international defeat, he’ll show the ABs England’s attack.
You didn’t think he was going to show all his cards, did you?
You’re welcome.
Still nothing tieing the forwards and backs together in the backline. Had hoped to see something even with just a few training runs. It was largely back to 2020 Foster rugby, just with slightly more developed players, but the same problems/difficulties when it came down to it.
Scraped past a very young English team. They are mostly 21 years old. That front rower looks like he’s 12 lol. One kick from Marcus Smith and Razor the messiah would’ve been very human after all. Anyways congratulations on the win. We look forward to Johannesburg.
“It was a challenge that All Black wing Sevu Reece said “they knew was coming” but the backs couldn’t quite capitalise enough on.”
It would help if you were actually a centre and didnt die with the ball so often.
You can see the influences of Felix Jones with Eng defence, but you can see Razor's influence with NZ… 🤔