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The All Blacks 'Bomb Squad' set to take down the Springboks

(Photos / Getty Images)

The Springboks have their infamous Bomb Squad, the combustible clutch of six forwards and two backs that come off the bench against tiring opponents and blow them away.

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The strategy was certainly one of the major reasons they won the 2019 World Cup.

However, with the selection of a new back three against Argentina at Suncorp Stadium this weekend, New Zealand has formed its own Bomb Squad.

It’s shaping like a handpicked platoon to defuse the missiles and torpedoes that will come raining down on the them in their important clashes against the world champions for the last two rounds of the Rugby Championship.

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All Blacks boss Ian Foster talks Damian McKenzie’s selection at No 10 for Los Pumas re-match

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All Blacks boss Ian Foster talks Damian McKenzie’s selection at No 10 for Los Pumas re-match

With Jordie Barrett, Will Jordan and George Bridge being selected in the back three in the next test, you can see the selectors have got an eye on the bombardment that Handre Pollard or Elton Jantjes are set to launch as we will find out who is the number one team on the planet.

At fullback this weekend, Jordie Barrett has shown he’s matured as a leader and influential player, firstly for the Hurricanes and then with his chances in black.

Despite the minor hiccough with the red card against Australia, of which he was exonerated, he has been a rock not only under the high ball in defence but also on attack, narrowly missing out on two tries in the in-goal area from his brother Beauden’s kicks last weekend in the 39-0 victory over Argentina.

Also he picked up placekicking duties just before halftime, slotting four kicks from four.

The Springboks place a high premium on physicality and intimidation and Jordie’s size and attitude is the perfect plinth to place the outside back’s efforts on.

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On the right wing, Will Jordan has been a revelation in test rugby. He’s scored 11 tries in seven tests, five of those in one match against Tonga.

Jordan came to prominence as a fullback for New Zealand under-age teams and Tasman in provincial rugby, but has spent extended periods at the Crusaders on the wing and certainly his rapid pace has seen him excel in the role.

Combine the speed with good hands and elusiveness, and it’s a brave team that punts the ball to wonderful Will.

On September 5, George Bridge made the perfect return to rugby, he came off the bench against the Wallabies and seconds later got on the end of a superb cross kick from TJ Perenara to touchdown.

After an extended run of injuries, he’s brought his energy and expertise back to the left wing.

Renowned for his work under the high ball, he safely answered any questions the Pumas asked of him last weekend and looked formidable in his work rate and strength, narrowly missing out on a try, running for 114 metres in 11 carries and now he tops the competition table for clean breaks, alongside Akira Ioane.

With Anton Lienert-Brown under an injury cloud and Rieko Ioane making every post a winner at centre, this trio is shaping to be important cogs in the All Blacks’ campaign to win the Rugby Championship on neutral soil.

With the Argentinians struggling for territory last weekend, you’d expect they will try to exit out of their half more this weekend. This could be the perfect rehearsal for the Pollard pounding they’ll be bracing for the week after.

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
N
Nickers 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

43 Go to comments
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Nickers 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

43 Go to comments
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