So another week, another game lost against the current World Champions and unfortunately, another week of the same mistakes that this current All Black team seems to be very good at. At this level the game can turn on small margins and the AB’s don’t seem to be taking theirs when they arrive. For me the team still looks like a group of individuals who are struggling to understand the game plan and their role in it. A number of times in this game players seemed to receive balls they weren’t expecting and because of this a lot of the contact was lost by the AB’s.
Congratulations to South Africa, they are playing well and finding ways to win that shows they deserve their standing at the top of the world ladder. To be fair to the All Blacks, the game didn’t go all the Boks way, but they got their small moments and that allowed them to come out on top. Their coaches will definitely be looking at the mistakes that were made knowing that it won’t take much for a team to get over them if the mistakes continue.
I guess one of the positives from the match is that the ABs can improve a lot more than the Boks can and we always knew that this year was going to be a rebuild after the RWC. We just didn’t expect the rebuild to take so long and to be so slow.
The Game
The game itself was an error ridden performance by both teams with penalties and the officials seeming to be running the show, rather than the players. The All Blacks conceded 13 penalties and 2 yellow cards while the Springboks conceded 14 penalties and 2 yellow cards. With that many penalties and scrums that seemed to be constantly reset, the game was very much a stop/start affair that didn’t have a lot of flow. I think this suits the Springboks a lot more than the All Blacks and was a huge part of why the scoring was so low. The statistics themselves were pretty even throughout the match, although the Springboks made over 100 more meters than the All Blacks (496 to 322). Interestingly the All Blacks had less missed tackles (20 to 37), had almost twice as many defenders beaten (37 to 20) and double the amount of turnovers (9 to 4). However the Springboks won all the scoring stats and they are actually the most important.
The first half was definitely a slugfest with the Springboks down 3 – 9 at the break. Both teams had their chances with some good running from Codie Taylor for New Zealand and Wiese for South Africa creating chances for scoring tries but the defence from both teams was outstanding at times with Sam Cane, Scott Barrett and Tyrel Lomax all having big moments that kept the Springboks out.
Unfortunately the All Blacks couldn’t keep this up and eight minutes into the 2nd half Springboks captain Siya Kolisi crossed over for the games first try. This did seem to stir the All Blacks on and they started to get their running game going, however despite missing 37 tackles to the All Blacks 20 the Boks were able to disrupt the plays and not allow the All Blacks the continuity they needed.
Just after Tyrel Lomax was Yellow Carded for a late tackle the Springboks won a lineout drive with Malcolm Marx taking the ball down the blindside to score. The All Blacks tried to get back into the game but their lack of patience and silly mistakes prevented them from making headway with the final score being 18 – 12 to the Springboks. This effectively ends Razor’s chance of winning the Tri Nations Cup and also saw South Africa claim the Freedom Cup for the first time since 2009. It is also the first time South Africa have won 4 games in a row against the All Blacks since 1949. While only 2 of these were with Robertson in charge, it’s not the start he would have wanted for his tenure as the All Black coach.
The Game Changer
The game changer for me in this game was the try that was scored by the Springboks after Lomax received his YC. Up until that moment the All Blacks were making ground and looked like they may come back. However, after that try they seemed to be trying too hard and rather than focussing on playing their game and letting the points come, they seemed to be wanting to make things happen too much and this just caused more mistakes that the Springboks took advantage of.
Conclusion
Something is not working with this All Black side. I’m not sure whether it’s something in the coaching group or not, but the ruthless edge that took the All Blacks to the top of world rugby and kept them there for so long seems to be missing from this team. A lot of players seem to be struggling and not playing the game in the way they have in the past and also don’t seem to be held accountable for their mistakes. This was always something that set the ABs apart and I think Razor needs to be a lot more ruthless in both his selections and game plan. I also think he should reassess how he uses his replacements. They seem to not make a difference when they come on and I think often come on too late.
I think DMac is struggling at 10 and doesn’t seem to have the time he needs to be more effective. He appears rushed and is making some poor decisions when he gets the ball and no room. Perenara seems to have lost the plot and is making Nic White seem like a reasonable player with the way he is gobbing off at the officials. This is just stupid play and only ensures that New Zealand misses out on a lot of the 50/50 calls.
I’m not sure the All Blacks have the right balance yet. The loose forwards in particular seem to be unbalanced and while I thought both Sititi and Savea were outstanding at times the 3 of them aren’t working well together and it’s almost like working as 3 individuals rather than as a team.
The one decision I really struggle with though is what the coaching team see in Reiko Ioane at 13 that no one else seems to see. Reiko was a great winger and to be fair to him I’d have him in the team now as a winger, but he is really struggling at 13. He doesn’t seem to know how to create space for the back 3 and while his one on one defence is still very good, he doesn’t seem to be organising the defence properly. I think that his play and DMac’s struggling was a huge issue in this game and I think Razor and his coaching team need to reassess some of their selections or we may be in for more hard times going forward.
