In the wake of the All Blacks' 47-29 win over the Wallabies on Saturday night, ODT Online rugby contributor Jeff Cheshire finds five points to ponder.
They Threatened More Consistently
If there was to be a criticism of the 2012 All Blacks, it was that they would look good with ball in hand for patches and downright awful for others.
This team though seemed to operate less like this, for the most part anyway, looking threatening on attack regularly.
By the second half it seemed that if they could hold the ball for five or six phases in good field position, they would more than likely score. The forwards were getting enough front-foot ball and the backs just had to be clinical rather than brilliant to score, with the two Aarons, Smith and Cruden, doing enough to put their outsides into gaps.
If they keep operating like this they will be a handful, especially as they begin to get a feel for how to get Julian Savea and Ben Smith more involved.
The Lineout Needs Work
The main negative for the All Blacks came in their atrocious lineout, which seemed to be dysfunctional on all levels. At times the throwing was off, the timing wasn't there and they were beaten to the jump. To win tight games you have to secure your set-piece ball and this is an area that needs to be fixed sooner rather than later, preferably before they face the Springboks, who have an outstanding lineout.
Watch the Discipline
This got better as the game progressed but early on there were too many inaccuracies at the breakdown and too many players getting themselves offside. Because of this, Australia were able to stay in the game for a lot longer than they should have, as it allowed them to kick 15 points in penalties when other than this, they only looked a chance of scoring on occasion.
Cut down on the penalties and all of a sudden the win becomes far more convincing than it was, while in a closer game it could the difference between a win and a loss.
Richie McCaw
Richie McCaw's return was met with great anticipation from pretty much everyone. There were those who questioned how his fitness would hold up after so long away from the game, while others wondered whether he could be as dominant as he had previously.
He answered these critics with a typically strong performance, making his tackles, doing some good work at the breakdown and being particularly good in the air at kickoff time. His accuracy early on was a bit off, which resulted in a couple of penalties, but he adapted quickly and lasted through until the game was well and truly safe. Good to see him back on the field.
The Smith Factor
The All Blacks backline boasted three Smiths and each was amongst the top performing players. Aaron Smith was outstanding in his service, sniped well and ran across field to draw defenders at the right times, playing in a similar vein to how Will Genia normally would.
Conrad Smith was tidy on attack, but really excelled on defence coming up with some very timely tackles that put the Wallabies under pressure, while Ben Smith had less to do but looked dangerous when he got a chance and did his job in finishing off three tries.
