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The All Blacks' first choice 23 makes a big difference but Ireland won't care
By Ben Smith
They were beaten by the better side in their opening pool game against France, but there is no doubt that at full strength the All Blacks are a much better unit.
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With a handful of starters returning to the line-up who missed France, notably Jordie Barrett, Shannon Frizell, and Brodie Retallick, who came off the bench in Paris, the All Blacks put forward a clinical showing in the 96-point demolition.
While Italy’s defence is not comparable to that of Ireland or France, they could not deal with the precision and speed of the All Blacks.
The maul was used to bag the second try through Aaron Smith but then was often a guise to confuse the Italian forwards, with the fringes of the maul on either side targetted frequently with a variety of peels and wrap plays.
Ardie Savea was offered ball directly off the top by Frizell on one occasion. Italy’s guard, openside Michele Lamaro, could not sight the ball and fell for the fake maul, committing to attach for the counter shove.
That split second decision gave Savea a free lane to come around the corner and run through hooker Giacomo Nicotera defending in the 10 channel.
Savea is a former schoolboy centre who can probably explode through the first 10 metres in an estimated 1.5-1.6 seconds. The half-second hesitation by Lamaro was the difference.
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Aaron Smith hit the blindside maul defence the next time around, dummying inside two sliding defenders to score his double after Taylor peeled off the back down the short channel.
His third came from a beautiful line by Jordie Barrett running off Richie Mo’unga’s shoulder off a pod screen. The second five-eighth came from a long way to link with Mo’unga and a clever delay of hand by the No 10 put the hard-running Barrett through.
It was Jordie Barrett’s second assist of the night after a stabbing kick pass was used in the 6th minute to provide for Will Jordan.
Another maul try came for Savea’s second, breaking off the back from a metre out to crash over.
That was just the first half. In the second, the All Blacks executed their counter-attack skills by pouncing on Italian errors.
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A Scott Barrett charge down led to a Retallick try. An overthrow led to Dalton Papalii’s five pointer. Will Jordan and Ardie Savea combined for a brilliant try after a ruck turnover.
And the set-piece strikes continued to rain down points on Italy.
Dane Coles had a scamper from another maul paul down the blind side. Damian McKenzie burst through a wrap play from a midfield scrum. Cam Roigard exploded inside Coles another maul variation before setting up Anton Lienert-Brown.
Italy head coach Kieran Crowley was right in his assessment that it was a “glorified training run” as the set plays were working with such a success rate as if they were an unopposed walkthrough.
The All Blacks had done their homework and looked to target Italy’s maul defence. Captain Ardie Savea alluded to as much with his post-game assessment, there was space they had identified and they went after it.
But that space and those opportunities will not present against an outfit such as Ireland. This was a one-off masterclass in starter plays built for Italy.
Ireland know not to turn the ball over and offer the All Blacks the chance to counter and their set-piece defence is not as brittle either.
There is nothing from this game that would instill fear into Ireland’s ranks, and the 17 points scored by Italy will perhaps bring forth a wry smile. If Italy’s attack can land two tries, what could Ireland’s do.
But neither Pool A or Pool B are finalised in terms of who is going through and in what position.
France vs. Italy and Scotland vs. Ireland still have influence while South Africa’s clash with Tonga is also part of the equation.
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster made it clear he does not have a preference for a quarter-final opponent and wouldn’t start worrying about it until it is determined.
If Italy tip over France, New Zealand could top the pool and still play South Africa. If Scotland force their way through with two wins they could be the assignment.
The chips will fall and determine the path forward. While Ireland is likely, it isn’t yet confirmed.
There is still a chance for the All Blacks to play the Springboks yet.
If Scotland beat Ireland well, then NZ could be playing SA....
Ireland should be worried, only boks had an off game they would have lost quite easily.If abs click it will be a replay of first game at Eden park last year,most irish fans wont like hearing that but its the truth.Good news for them is they might not click, but if anyone knows Ireland's weak spots its Joe Schmidt, he built that team then handed the keys over to Farrell, and stepped in to take charge of team during first test last year when Foster had covid.Abs to win by 15 points, (if Ireland make it to the quarters)
Training run ?? Ireland won only 34-20 vs Italy in 6 nations. Why did not they do ??
Ireland never exists in 1/4 in one World Cup !
All blacks will eat them , they have psychological advantage vs them .
As an AB fan, I would say Ire have the psychological advantage,
if any, going by recent history of wins.
Ireland will care if the All Blacks play like that because, if they do, Ireland will get beaten.
Oh yes they do care -Dont believe the Irish mind games -they are getting skittery over the thought of NZ kicking them out - its happening by the way NZ have only one thing on their mind avenging the series loss - thats motivation alone and by God they have the 23 to beat all challengers if they bring their A game
Not to mention kicking a restart out on the full!
The biggest positives for the ABs were for the work done by the pack - I think the AB scrum, for instance, will be getting a lot more attention from the Irish. But our defence was repeatedly exposed by an Italian team that had sweet fa ball, but still created big problems for the ABs by using a similar 'deep pod' system to the Irish - but not nearly as well as the Irish will do! The biggest defensive problem is Beauden - as illustrated by the Italian try at the death. The man cannot tackle, a huge deficit for our so called 'last line of defence'. With Jordie back, kicking for Jordan's try and kicking for touch, and Richie kicking for goal, what actually is BB still there for? His kicking out of hand was aimless, his contribution in attack was limited to a pass to put Telea away... The Irish eyes will be smiling all right, at the prospect of BB at fullback. And if that weren't enough, by forcing Jordan to the right wing, we lose Leicester's impact and have to play Telea on the wrong side! WTF?
Agree! The first 3 clearing kicks went directly to an Italian player on halfway. As if he has learnt nothing.
And that last try was embarrassing. Italy were crap and we still got exposed for soft tries
No it was Rieko who missed the tackle for the last try, I’m a Auckland supporter but he will and always will be the best winger in the the world IMO get ALB at centre and the backline will fire.
the nature of playing a team that lets you fall forward easily on attack is that the defense line can be split and if you turn it over to quickly those gaps show. Irish or other defence lines will be more steely and the AB attack flatter hence easier to convert back into defense
Totally agree on all points
I think NZ would prefer to have SA in the quarter. With everyone fit, available and in form, NZ can play a game that will beat SA. I dont know if that is true of Ireland
All blacks always won vs Ireland in 1/4 in one World Cup , they have psychological advantage !
They talk about Italy but Ireland won only 34-20 vs Italy in 6 nations !
So Irish defense was exposed by Italian attack in 6 nations, so imagine vs attack all blacks !
The all blacks have at long last learned their lesson of being the best team outside the world cp and under performing in it. They are peaking at the right time. The series loss to Ireland last year is irelevant. There is more chance of Scotland taking down Ireland next week than the Irish getting past the all blacks in a quater final.
Wow if this is not the biggest glass half full perspective I have ever heard then it is close. Suddenly losing games in between world cups does not mean they have some how improved by learning lessons. On the contrary it is evidence of their overall decline
Italy won't "tip over France". Get real.
Think when the ABs get De Groot back as well as Lomax they will be even stronger on the bench. I agree they will leak the odd try as their defense is deep, but they have the ability to score tries, and score quickly. Going to be interesting.
Ireland will have a great day attacking the ABs edge defence. They got outflanked easily by Italy, Ireland will destroy them.
Right you think that the All Blacks can't or won't improve by doing their homework. Each game is different, so you can't look at 1 game see the deficiencies and think the same opportunities will be there for the next one
Maybe but at scrum time with lomax de groot and Taylor, Irish scrum will leak penalties
The Irish won't make it past Scotland
Foster has just taken the p*ss out of the clown Erasmus (there's a bunch of reports available to confirm this) and anyone that knows anything about rugby union knows that SA are again had been QF exiters. NZ will take France apart based on current form and will certainly have the better of Ireland if they play the way they did yesterday.
Let’s hope the ABs don’t get too full of themselves after the Italy run. They took England too lightly last Cup and suffered the consequences. Focus on each game as though it was the final
NZ looked great but NZ literally just lost to France. So I don't know why you think they'd take them apart just a couple of weeks later. Could they win? Definitely, will they take them apart? No.
SA have a good record in rugby cups. 3 so far.
It seems that they are the team to beat if you want credibility.
Ben, I think your last statement was just to wind up the Saffas who will (rightly) read it as baiting! I agree, Ireland will not be trembling at this performance and probably the Boks and France wont either. However, a similar forwards performance will stand the ABs a chance against any of them.
Ireland will have do some serious introspection after the demolition of Italy and France will know that only the WR crooks (aka officials) can stop NZ. SA will again leave after the quarters. The Pool C and D contenders don't look like any real threat at the moment but the RWC has produced some insane (officials assisted) results in the past.