Sam Whitelock
The All Blacks have undergone an unpleasant video debrief
of their recent disappointment against Australia and are keen
to move on from a result which ruined their winning run.
For their next opponents, Scotland, however, the opposite is
true. In a bid to boost morale for Monday morning's test at
Murrayfield against the All Blacks, a team they have never
beaten, Scotland coach Andy Robinson instructed the team's
video analyst to put together a package of lowlights from the
men in black.
The Scotsman newspaper reported Robinson's scheme,
suggesting it was "an attempt to humanise the world leaders
and highlight how they remain vulnerable to pressure''.
The newspaper did not say how many matches Robinson's man had
to trawl through to gather enough content for his horror
show, but there is every chance the All Blacks' 18-18 draw in
Brisbane a fortnight ago will get a good airing.
The try-less test was tough enough for All Blacks supporters
to watch live, so it was likely to have been doubly painful
viewing for the team as they gathered in their Edinburgh
hotel to get it out of their system.
After all, it was at Murrayfield that the All Blacks were
supposed to be setting a new world record of consecutive test
wins among tier one nations.
Lock Sam Whitelock has confirmed the match video was tough to
watch.
"There were a number of things and it wasn't just one person
or one area. There were a number of things that accumulated
and definitely didn't help our overall game,'' he told media
in Edinburgh.
"There are some big learnings for us coming out of it -
obviously we didn't play the way that we'd like to and we
know we can, so we went over a number of things and carried
on from there really.''
Coach Steve Hansen gave his forwards a blast before the
Argentina match in Buenos Aires in the recent Rugby
Championship for what he considered substandard work,
especially at the breakdown area, in the previous test
against the Springboks in Dunedin.
If he remains consistent, his pack will get another this
week. His complaints in September were about a lack of
aggression in the cleanout area which meant slow ball and a
subsequent lack of time and space for his backs. What
followed at La Plata was one of the most complete
performances of the year from his team.
This time he has already identified the set piece as being
below par, according to Whitelock.
"Our set piece was very poor and that just didn't give us an
opportunity to attack at all so it's something we've got to
make sure we nail over the next few weeks.''
The cleanout could also do with a clean-up, with Hansen
already highlighting the Scottish pack's size. There is still
a question mark over big Sale lock Richie Gray, who has an
ankle injury, but Hansen's words could be just the challenge
the All Blacks' pack need to lift their game.
If they don't the very least they can expect is another
painful video session.
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