THE ALL BLACKS sent out a message to the rest of the world last weekend with their impressive 35-20 win over South Africa.
Ian Foster’s side were brilliant in the opening quarter in Auckland, earning a 17-0 lead that the Springboks were always going to struggle to overhaul.
On today’s episode of Rugby Weekly Extra, a podcast for subscribers to The 42, host Murray Kinsella and former Ireland analyst Eoin Toolan discussed New Zealand’s recent resurgence ahead of the World Cup.
The influence of former Ireland boss Joe Schmidt, now an assistant coach and selector with the All Blacks, was impossible to ignore last weekend.
Kinsella: “The All Blacks made a huge statement. They are back. It was an outstanding performance, particularly that first 20 minutes, and my sense the whole way through was that this has Joe Schmidt’s stamp all over it.
“Not to give him all the credit, but he’s now had such time in the saddle. The same with Jason Ryan, the forwards coach, he’s had time in the saddle and you can see the impact they’re having. Ian Foster has managed a difficult situation too. And all their best players seem to be playing really well again.
“What in particular impressed you about the way they beat South Africa?”
Toolan: “Those Joe Schmidt hallmarks, I was thinking exactly the same watching the game.
“I think initially, the intensity to their carry and breakdown work. The first 15 minutes is probably the best bit of international rugby I’ve seen in quite some time in terms of their accuracy.
“The first New Zealand try is a ball-in-play sequence of three minutes, which is right up there. It had all the things I mentioned in terms of the carry, the breakdown, the core skills, their attacking shape, but the biggest key around New Zealand’s win was their kicking game.
“They ruthlessly exposed South Africa’s backfield from a contestable kick perspective. That aerial brilliance from Will Jordan that we’ve been waxing lyrical about on this pod for a couple of years, that’s what gets New Zealand the final possession to score the try.
“They win back the kick, then it’s brilliant from Beauden Barrett at second receiver to understand that Mapimpi is shooting from out to in, he double pumps and finds Jordan on the right edge, then his law awareness to release when he’s tackled, pick it back up.
“Then the best moment of the sequence is how you think of Aaron Smith as the nine getting from ruck to ruck in attack, defensively massive work rate as well, so for him to run that positive support line as well and link up with Jordan was just… I was almost clapping my hands it was such a brilliant sequence of play.
“Shannon Frizzell, what an opening half from him. The two key positions New Zealand have failed to fill since back post-World Cup in 2015 have been the six and 12 slots. Shannon Frizzell was that force of nature in the opening half on both sides of the ball.
“They’ve been waiting for him for a number of years and he was irrepressible, swatting away a couple of South Africa defenders for his try.”
Kinsella: “It was such a precise, clear game plan beautifully executed by skillful, intuitive players. Everyone was perfectly aligned in what they were going to do.
“The Boks certainly didn’t expect that aerial contest. The variety of the kicking was crucial though because it was never just one picture, it was constantly unsettling the Boks. That chip behind you mentioned means they had to take off some of the linespeed, then you’ve got Beauden Barrett going with that lovely bridge pass over the edge defence, there was just a barrage of different tools thrown at them.
“Lovely plays around the ruck off Aaron Smith, putting that reminder in South Africa that they had to really guard that space and couldn’t get that quick spread to get more width in their defence.
“It was definitely one of the most thrilling quarters of Test rugby I’ve seen in a long, long time. It was the All Blacks back at their best.
“Even though it was a very clear, defined game plan, it was never predictable, which was an accusation thrown at Joe Schmidt’s influence on games. It’s a nice blend they’ve got with the likes of Jordan and Barrett being so instinctive.
“So the question now is, would you rather Ireland play France or New Zealand in a World Cup quarter-final?”
Toolan: “Pick your poison. Given the World Cup is in France, you’re taking New Zealand even if I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing.
“But I still think there are vulnerabilities in New Zealand’s game.
“The set-piece has improved under Jason Ryan but when the changes were made by South Africa and the big guys came off the bench, they started to apply pressure at the scrum and maul.
“There started to be some chinks that Ireland exposed last year and you can’t underestimate the work Paul O’Connell did in that area. That would be a psychological advantage the Irish pack would have.
“You might pick the All Blacks in a quarter-final but it’s a toss of a coin given the form they’re in.”
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