All Black efficiency - Post match opinion

Why are the All Blacks so good?

In my opinion it is due to the following factors. They plan for every facet of play, they break it down to its simplest format and every player arriving knows exactly what to do. What I mean by this is not that each individual has a specific task, it depends who is the tackler, then the next to arrive and so on. It stands them in good stead, due to this pre planning every player knows his role and that causes implicit trust in each other, knowing that the next guy will do the right thing.

Key players

There are a number of them in this team, but for me Carter is the stand out. He has shown today that the hype around Cooper is just that. Make no mistake Cooper is a very good player, where he has “flash”, Carter has consistency. Where he can under perform when under pressure, Carter is Mr Cool. Carter has an ability to create doubt for the opponents defence and opportunity in the attack, he will distribute the ball 75% of the time, and the other 25% will be used to attack the gain line, often finding the gap, or using his kicks very effectively. Defensively he must be the best 10 in world rugby.

Richie McCaw for me is not the athlete he was two years ago, but his experience, leadership and intelligence as player inspires and provides confidence to his team.

Then to me Conrad smith is just a superb player, great ball skills, and a very elusive and intelligent player. His positional play and support play is of the highest order.

Overall you can probably say something good about most of their players, but for me these three are standouts.

Calm under pressure.

A number of times the All Blacks were under pressure when a pass went loose and with one man having to run back they never allowed the pressure to get to them. Weepu especially had to do this a number of times. This is often where Australia in particular would use that pressure situation to create turn over ball, but by staying calm they seldom make mistakes.

Efficiency at their breakdown ball.

When it is their breakdown ball, the first arrival does not go for the ball, he goes to clear the “fetcher”, what many other team do in that situation is their player starts to compete for the ball, and often it is too late as the “fetcher” already has his hands on the ball.

Opponent ruck ball

If the All Blacks arrive at the breakdown with superior numbers they immediately counter ruck, they don’t go for slowing down the ball, they go in to create immediate possession. If the breakdown has been won, they don’t contest they simply stand off, immediately getting ready for the approaching attack.

Then there is the McCaw factor, because of the counter rucking he only contest for the turn over if the opportunity presents it self, and what makes them so efficient at the breakdown is the fact that they are the most intelligent players at the break down. You can’t “fetch” at every breakdown, you have to read the situation and then effect the best option.

On attack.

Popular opinion about All Black attack is the belief that the All Blacks play wide all the time. That is not entirely accurate. They tend to run a lot of balls in the close channels, where accurate offloading and supporting ball carriers provide options. Only once they have gone through enough phases to draw the defence in do they go wide. By doing this they keep the defence guessing and makes them efficient in attack.

Negating opposition’s playmakers

Today most of the time they had two defenders coming onto Cooper on the angle, this cut of Cooper’s ability to jink or drift left or right, when Cooper was running on the angle or drifted they simply give him the space outside and slowly drifted him into limited space, the spaces he passed to was “predicatble” and their defence was up to it. The other important factor is that carter is a class above most fly halves when it comes to defensive ability and execution.

Clever players.

A number of times, not every time, they will “restrict” a defender to roll clear of the ruck, in such a manner that it is perceived by the referee that the defender didn’t attempt to roll away. Then subtle blocking of defenders, impeding running lines etc. Every now and then they will also be just that tad offside at their attacking breakdowns to impede counter rucking or defenders close to the ruck.

Opportunities for opponents.

The All Blacks are definitely not invincible, but they do plan and execute efficiently, although they are defensively well organised, they do tend to slip first time tackles. In the match today they missed an extraordinary number of tackles. Their line out is still an opportunity for teams to exploit and I also believe they can be closed down with solid defence. Starve them of possession, close down their spaces and be aware of the support runners and the offloads, there are opportunities for counter attack by intercept.

Summary

It is said by Gary Player that the more you play the luckier you get, call it momentum, luck, bounce of the ball or whatever phrasing you prefer, but it seems to favour the all Blacks in spades.

Overall the Wallabies weren’t bad today, they were perhaps a little intimidated by that very passionate Haka, and took a while to get into the game, they perhaps needed to control possession a bit more and played more phases before going wide, even though they can run great angles, with Cooper being under pressure today they tended to become predictable in just going wide. But because the All Blacks made few mistakes there weren’t enough counter attacking opportunities for the Wallabies where they normally thrive. The upshot for other teams to play Australia is that the All Blacks showed today even with missing many tackles, if you don’t make mistakes and kick needlessly into space, the Wallabies can’t counter attack, and to me that is when they are at their most dangerous.

Good article Biltong. Respect to the victors.

An honest question. Is what we have watched tonight the mark for winning the world cup or will more than that be needed?

Very good article.

The one point I'd contest is that I don't think McCaw has lessened as an athlete. What he has done is changed his game and if anything, he is much more rounded.

MBTGOG wrote:Very good article.

The one point I'd contest is that I don't think McCaw has lessened as an athlete. What he has done is changed his game and if anything, he is much more rounded.

Perhaps I put it wrongly, what I meant is comparing a young bull with an old bull, the young bull stroms in regardless, the old bull thinks about what is more efficient.

biltongbek wrote:

MBTGOG wrote:Very good article.

The one point I'd contest is that I don't think McCaw has lessened as an athlete. What he has done is changed his game and if anything, he is much more rounded.

Perhaps I put it wrongly, what I meant is comparing a young bull with an old bull, the young bull stroms in regardless, the old bull thinks about what is more efficient.

Ah okay, fair enough. I think he is actually better now. With his ability now with ball in hand, it has added another dimension to this All Black side, which in turn makes them even more dangerous. To be fair, I think Kieran Read should take some credit for this due to the large workload he takes upon himself freeing up McCaw a bit.

Read really is a.phenomenal player.

boomeranga wrote:Good article Biltong. Respect to the victors.

An honest question. Is what we have watched tonight the mark for winning the world cup or will more than that be needed?

The All Blacks aren't the finished article yet, they need to work on their tackling, they need to work on their line outs. Their scrum is solid, but the australia Scrum I thought handled themselves well today.

Even though the all Blacks were calm under pressure tonight, there wasn't continious pressure on them throughout the game

I belive there are teams out there that has the ability to combat the all Blacks, put more pressure on them and keep the all Black attack in line.

The question is however, who can get it right on match day, and not gift the all Blacks possession and counter attacking ball.

They exploit turnover ball better than any other team which is a real key point for them.

The other thing is they are clinical and very rarely butcher chances. There was a point in the game today where Australia had some sustained pressure in the AB's 22 for a god 5-10 minutes, failed to come away with points, and when the Ab's got the ball they went from one end of the field to the other and within about 2 minutes of having been under the cosh went over for a try.

Absolutely clinical.

The All Blacks effiency,in my view can also be attributed to their ball handling skills. Everyone from 1-15 is great with the ball. So if they get a quick turnover it can be sped along the line quickly and easily.

I thought Wyatt Crockett was shown up today. He was not up to it and when the Franks brothers were together, it looked much stronger.

How about the All Blacks wingers? Who are the best duo?

The other part that stood out for me was their defence. Honestly outstanding.

MBTGOG wrote:

How about the All Blacks wingers? Who are the best duo?

I think Sivi and Jane have the inside running at the moment. I don't think Guilford has the x factor, Gear and Dagg need more games. I'm picking at least one will be a converted full back (Jane or Dagg), as I think this gives the back three more balance as a unit (Sivi and Gear can't kick).

I think the Wallabies will look back on this with some confidence. 3 missed penalties, and a number of trie scoring opportunities missed. They did well at scrum time, their lineout was generally ok, and they seemed to edge the AB's at the breakdown towards the end. The key issue for them will be how to give Cooper a bit more time. The AB's did a great job of isolating him.

MBTGOG wrote:I thought Wyatt Crockett was shown up today. He was not up to it and when the Franks brothers were together, it looked much stronger.

How about the All Blacks wingers? Who are the best duo?

Crockett is a tall prop and has always struggled against shorter tightheads. Woodcock is still the AB's number 1 number 1 I would suspect.

As you'd expect to hear from me Billtong everything went to plan today.
Id picked 18 and it seemed to sit around that all match.
The players coming back performed and we got there.
The big difference was the intensity and pressure. Neither O'Connell or Cooper handled it very well.
In the one match we sorted quite a few things out, Deans not understanding what it takes at this level....again.

Carter was great and left Cooper... well... somewhere.
Not a lot more to say really other than...Henry has done his homework...once again.
I think you've left out Nonu's impact on the game. He was brilliant tonight and mixed it up beautifully I think you'll find in the replays.
Read is one hell of a player and true to form Oz scored care of the usual stars but mmmmm....

You need to come here with a bit more than confidence Robbie. 6 from 13 now..."regularly ....beat.....anyone...." Ummmmm

Not impressed. But completely expected.

I love how you post as if your part of the inner sanctum.

Taylorman, yes, i enjoyed watching the All Blacks and Wallabies today, it just confirmed for me again how good the rugby is in the SH. What I realised today was that even though this is a very strong All Black team, now that I have seen the light, I feel better about our chances than before.

The fact is the All Blacks are efficient and execute well, but this feeling i had these last few weeks that the All Blacks are somehow physically superior and vastly better than our guys. I realised when a team like the All Blacks can miss 20 tackles in a match, they are still only human.

True Biltong but the frightening thing is,to miss them and still WIN.

Conrad Smith had one of his best games in a long time. Ma'a Nonu is going from strength to strength and I think SBW is fading. It'll be interesting to see how he goes when he gets a start in a couple of weeks. Looking like Smith/Nonu are nailed on for the RWC though.

Gear had an inauspicious return, but it was always going to be harder for him to impress against the Wallaby's than the understrength SA or Fiji.

I though Mils looked off the pace again. Either he's under instructions to be conservative or he's lost his touch a little. I'll be interested to see how Dagg goes.

Alan, like you said yourself, the all Blacks don't lose at home, and as I said above they took the wallabies strength away. They gave them little opportunity to attack.

The All Blacks will always win 80% plus of their matches, the Boks are one of the select few that can win against New Zealand, and the question remains when the all Blacks lose those few matches they do.

All to do with timing, and there is always hope in that.

Did Brad Thorn's full time drop goal go over?

Another insightful piece Biltong. There were definitely AB weaknesses out there tonight, it was just that the Wallabies weren't able to exploit them. A few times the wallabies made easy yards right up the guts but were then hell bent on sending it wide to the 'strike players'. Why they didn't persist I don't know. Clearly the AB's were very organised in defence and the usual schoolboy 'cut 1', 'cut 2', wrap around plays weren't working but they just kept banging their heads against the wall. It's a fine line between sticking to your plan and adapting to your surroundings but after 60 mins of 'going wide' it was all a bit to be expected.

I cannot believe the wallabies are still so poor in the restart department. I remember the first game of the trinations last year V the AB's and we had our pants pulled down repeatedly at the restart and there was all this uproar about it... one year on and we're just as bad. These are basic fundamentals of the game.

The All Blacks aren't the Harlem Globetrotters. They don't do things completely unheard of and foreign to everyone. They just do everything well. Everyone knows their job and they're meticulous. Australia seems to treat it like a game down at the park, just turn up, throw the ball around and see what happens. The Reds looked better prepared tactically for the most part but then again they didn't play the AB's.

To me Australia looked a bit intimidated tonight right from the start. They looked nervous and apprehensive and couldn't contain the early AB onslaught. The lesson tonight is that when playing the All Blacks you have to come out firing, and know that you will probably only get a couple of chances in the match and you have to take them.

I was joking with the missus tonight about how this was the supposed current number 1 and 2 in the world. It looked more like 1 Vs 10. At the moment it's really just number 1 and daylight second.

But the Wallabies didn't fade in the second half ... which is a change.

FullCredit, I was eluding to this the other day, Austrlian rugby to me has a sense of rugby league to it, if they could they would want to play with 15 back line players, it almost seems as if they see forwards only as a necessity to get the ball to their runners.

But i think you are being unfair to the Ozzies, if O'Connor kicked his penalties the game would have been much closer. The fact is the Wallaby scrum stood up to the All Black scrum, they had more breakdowns than the All Blacks, and the turn overs were 6 to 7. That isn't bad.

The problem today was the fact that Genia and Cooper were negated, and Deans cannot rely on those two only to win him a world cup.

There is some thinking to be done.

I wonder whether GH outfoxed the dingo this week.

In a reversion from recent tactics we had two ball runners on the wings which presented an apparent weakness.

The Wallabies seemed to be lured into testing the ABs with high balls, and kicks in behind the wings. Both AB first half tries were instigated from kick returns.

boomeranga wrote:I love how you post as if your part of the inner sanctum.

Whatever Booma...I see what you see but...then again...probably not.
Oz have peaked, that is clear. AB's aren't anywhere near it.

What happened to that confidence, bravado...load of rot. Attack the Oz sense of confidence I was accused of.

Deans the Messiah...been saying it for 2 years the guy is clueless. Showed tonight and many times before.

Biltong, I think most kids in Australia grow up watching league if they are that way inclined so that style of game comes naturally to them. No-one wants to be a fat, slow prop.. they all want to be the flashy speedster. We need more people to put their hands up saying they want to be the fat, slow prop.

My first game of union I didn't even know the rules having come from a league background and nearly had my neck broken in the scrum after gently leaning in a la league. I just wish there was more widespread interest in Australia because the talent is there, they're just playing the wrong version!

Taylorman wrote:

Deans the Messiah...been saying it for 2 years the guy is clueless. Showed tonight and many times before.

Ouch,

Yeah well he got his pass card with the Crusaders but the only thing that has got his results so far is the talents of Pocock, Beale, Oconnor, Cooper and Genia.
As a coach he has a rubbish record- now 6 wins from 13 tests since I started counting 5 from 10 on these boards.

Last week he comes out saying Aus can 'now' 'beat' 'any' team in the world 'regularly' and his record is now for 2011:
-loss to Samoa (9)
-win vs SA2 (easy)
-loss to NZ (16)

Oh yeah... regular wins against 'anyone'.

Man...when are Ozzie fans going to wake up!

Biltongbek Efficiency:
When is Bek going to become Bok coach? That's what I want to know.

Anyway, quite happy with the result. Eden Park is safe again.
AB's can still improve on this one as there's areas to sort still.

The way they stood up to their opposites was commendable.

This team just might be very hard to beat at Eden Park this year. Just maybe...

Mr Fishpaste wrote:Biltongbek Efficiency:
When is Bek going to become Bok coach? That's what I want to know.

Taylorman wrote:Last week he comes out saying Aus can 'now' 'beat' 'any' team in the world 'regularly' and his record is now for 2011:

Fantastic use of quotation marks there.

Yeah GG its just Deans doesnt seem to know how to use the media to his advantage. Going on about regularly beating teams, not worried about the Eden Park hoodoo etc etc is fine but as soon as the 80 minutes is over he's back to his learning lessons speech again. What does that make him look like?

Especially when he couldn't see the ambush coming from Samoa either and then went overboard about the SA efforts.

He's just all over the place. The only thing regular about Deans' record since he took over is that he's inconsistent and you never know whats going to happen from one match to the next.

Taylorman wrote:Yeah GG its just Deans doesnt seem to know how to use the media to his advantage. Going on about regularly beating teams, not worried about the Eden Park hoodoo etc etc is fine but as soon as the 80 minutes is over he's back to his learning lessons speech again. What does that make him look like?

Especially when he couldn't see the ambush coming from Samoa either and then went overboard about the SA efforts.

He's just all over the place. The only thing regular about Deans' record since he took over is that he's inconsistent and you never know whats going to happen from one match to the next.

Taylorman, I understand you don't think much of Deans and I agree with you he talks up his team, but on the other hand it isn't like he is going to say, the Wallabies don't see themselves competing with NZ. From what I understand Rugby Union is forever competing with other sports to raise the profile of the game.

Taylorman wrote:Yeah GG its just Deans doesnt seem to know how to use the media to his advantage. Going on about regularly beating teams, not worried about the Eden Park hoodoo etc etc is fine but as soon as the 80 minutes is over he's back to his learning lessons speech again. What does that make him look like?

Especially when he couldn't see the ambush coming from Samoa either and then went overboard about the SA efforts.

He's just all over the place. The only thing regular about Deans' record since he took over is that he's inconsistent and you never know whats going to happen from one match to the next.

As has been said, Deans has a role to play and that is continually try and raise the profile of the game in Australia. It is a long way behind League and AFL - and the All Blacks and their fans have much to be thankful for that state of affairs!! They need more people in Aust watching the game than what is happening now. Everyone has a role to play. GH, Carter and McCaw can talk into their sleeves all they want - but there are different factors at play when dealing with the media in Australia.

Rob, Biltong,
Understand what you're saying.

I just see there's a difference between bring false hopes to the Oz fans by taking chances based on not a lot.

If Oz roll up to the world cup and exit early in the knockouts with a loss similar to any one of the many Deans has faced in his tenure everyones going to revisit what hes done over the 4 years and hopefully see that its been a waste of time.

Those young players would have come through anyway and I don't see his efforts producing anything that even looks like consistency and this is confirmed by his pre and post match comments.

Look at his comments after the first 3 matches... First its lament and shock, then its Oz can beat anyone in the world regularly now its back to lessons being learned.

I mean come on.

But if you think that's fine then I'm fine with it. I'm just thankful he didnt beat GH to the line 4 years ago. ...very thankful...

True. "We've got the scrum sorted out, we're very happy with it", "Pocock is better than McCaw", "Cooper is better than Carter", "We've got the best back line in the world".

Are now all being qualified. "Pocock is better than McCaw but the rest of the unit let him down", "Cooper is better than Carter, but Carter got more front foot ball.", "We've got the most exciting back line in the world, ... erm, ON THEIR DAY." throw in the "learning experience" line and Deans seems to be positioning himself to be the next coach of Wales.

Taylorman, I honestly do not have a problem with you not rating him as a coach. I also agree that he makes statements that can only come back to bite him, we have had a coach who is continiously controversial in his responses to the media.

What we don't know is the mental fortitude in the Ozzie camp. Perhpas he feels the need to say these things in order to show his players some belief

In the end he can say what he wants and it seems I'm the only one who's bothered with it so fair enough. I just find it puzzling as I can't see Kiwis putting up with that- despite the obvious differences in talent available.

If our League coach was Australian and started spouting these sorts of things about our matches with Australia I'm sure we wouldn't be just sitting here taking it all, and the scenario is similar. With players like Benji Marshall and our recent results over Oz the scenario is similar, and our win ratio is probably better than the W's over the AB's but under no circs would we be spouting off like that, such is the respect we have for Oz League.

Anyway... all good. I see Deans seems to have got it wrong again saying we've seen the best of the AB's...

http://www.allblacks.com/news/17055/Henry-Miles-from-our-best

but hey...who's to say...just a difference of opinion probably...

and another...
just shows how much hes behind the 8 ball...we even used the Samoan match against them...

http://www.allblacks.com/news/17054/Kaino-Samoan-lessons-for-NZ

Just feel theres one team with the smarts as usual- I knew Gh and and co would come up with something at Eden park- just didnt know what it was- now we do...

Taylorman I was watching a NZ program that a guy( can't remember his name) made about New Zealands culture and the power of the land and it's people.

He moved to Australia and lived there for quite some time before going back to NZ to make the program. He explained the psyche of the New Zealanders vs Ozzies.

According to him NewZealanders are in the main more introspective and the Ozzies a nation that are optimistic.

That is perhaps why New Zealanders in the main aren't boastful people

Another point perhaps off topic was this black outfit the English wore yesterday and the claims made by Deans.

Association and imitation is of the highest forms of flattery one can recieve

Perhaps...To me its more about the relative coaching abilities of GH and Deans- what they spout is just rhetoric- its more the substance they have behind the comments for me, and from what Ive seen, despite the players they have...only one seems to really know his teams real abilities and how to improve them...

I think you're probably going a bit over the top about Deans.
As we all know Coaches have a big part to play in making a successful team. But we also know that NZ produces a lot of good players. While Henry can take credit for being the winning coach it sure as hell helps him to have Carter and McCaw in his lineup.

Yep, that's fair enough. Backing down from the Deans thing now. Probably raise it more from the Deans Henry debacle we had here a few years ago and am commenting out loud how grateful I am that we stuck with GH- such as the anti GH lot were then.

All good...