Following the All Blacks' 30-0 victory over France at the weekend, ODT Online rugby contributor Jeff Cheshire looks at how they achieved such a commanding win.
Kick and chase
It was perhaps not the game plan we are accustomed to seeing from the All Blacks, but they sure executed it effectively and completely shut the French out of the game.
They looked to play territory, particularly in the first half, kicking long and finding space in behind the French defence. This was done extremely well, with Israel Dagg, Aaron Smith and Aaron Cruden all showing great vision and the ability to put the ball in the right places.
But a kick is only as good as its chase, which is where the contributions of Ben Smith, Conrad Smith, Liam Messam and Sam Cane became more noticeable. Ben Smith was the main chaser and put plenty of pressure on the back three, ensuring they were never able to clear the ball with ease and at times were caught in tackles under pressure. The other three led the line and were always up to the task of handling the return.
It was this that ensured France never had a chance to threaten in the first half. Coming off for halftime having had 73% of the game played in your own half is just demoralising, ask anyone who has been in that situation.
Outstanding defence
The defence was brutal, but it was also extremely well organised and ensured there were never any obvious gaps for France to run at. The All Blacks looked to tackle aggressively, coming up to meet their opponents and drive them back, meaning France were unable to gain much momentum.
However, along with this it was the manner in which there was always someone filling in the gaps that made the defence so tough to break. Aaron Smith was prominent here as he marshalled his troops all night, showing great urgency in getting his forwards into the right places.
The best showing of this came in the first ten minutes of the second half, where the All Blacks defended their own line for a lengthy period of time. Despite the pressure they were under, they never looked like caving, so much so that the French gave up and tried for dropped goal instead, which was pounced on by the ever-present Sam Cane.
Ability to turn defence into attack
Twice the French applied significant pressure to the All Black line, and twice the All Blacks not only withstood this pressure, but ran the length of the field to score tried for themselves.
The first of these times was particularly significant. With the score at 10-0, a French try could have left us with a three point game with 30 minutes to go. Even a dropped goal would have left a seven point game and just as significantly, a French team with a bit of belief.
But some great desperation from Sam Cane, along with a quick change of mindset saw Julian Savea put into a gap to set up an All Black try which made for a 17 point game which the French were always chasing from then on. It was a big moment in the game and it came from the ability to turn attack into defence quickly.
A similar moment came late in the game, as they backed themselves to run from deep in their 22 and finished with one of the great All Black tries. When a team can score tries like this from anywhere on the park, they will cause problems for any defence.
Contesting the lineout well
The French lineout struggled all night, but that came as a result of the pressure Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock were applying, as they continually disrupted their ball.
Early on we saw France use what would perhaps be their safer options, the ones they were most confident in. But such was the skill of the skill of the All Black jumpers, these options were far from safe. This caused them to begin to try more, whether it be using different calls or trying to throw the ball higher, which in turn caused the lineout to become a complete mess.
The other significant point here was that the All Blacks were able to kick for touch knowing that they had a fair chance of either getting the ball back, or messing up the French ball.
Set piece is the primary source of possession in a game of rugby, and you simply cannot win games without it functioning well. Just ask the Highlanders.
Complete performance
All in all it was probably the All Blacks' best performance since the World Cup semifinal against Australia two years ago. While the 2012 team was the dominant team in the world, they won the majority of their games in patches of brilliant rugby, while the 60-0 drubbing of Ireland came against a very tired looking team.
In this game the All Black dominated from start to finish whether it be with their strong defence, their brilliant attack or their accurate and effective kick and chase game. This is much more the type of performance they would have been looking for and bodes well for the upcoming year.
