All Blacks show promise in narrow victory against France

NZ Herald

14 hours ago

The big takeaway from last year was a need to become more adept at putting teams away – to become better, sharper, at finishing the half chances.
Test rugby is a game of inches and micro precision, and for some of the time it was there. But not all the time. And until it is the pervading theme of the All Blacks – the defining element of their 80 minutes– then they are going to continue to find themselves in these knife-edge contests where the outcome remains in the balance until the death.
France were hanging on for most of the second half, obviously tired, unable to hold the ball or get out of their own half, and somehow with five minutes to go, they were still looking like the potential winner.
Coach Scott Robertson with captain Scott Barrett speaks after the match in Dunedin. Photo / Photosport
There was no death blow struck by the All Blacks. They didn't have one in them – or at least not one that Murphy was prepared to say was legal and two of the three tries he denied were contentious – and for 40 minutes the All Blacks had energy, commitment, occasional nice running lines, some slick passing, but not the prolonged accuracy to string it all together for long enough to put themselves out of reach.
They looked like a team that was trying to play test football, but that they were stuck in Super Rugby mode. They kicked plenty of possession, but their ability to retrieve it was almost non-existent.
No one was able to get under the offensive contestable kicks and given what lies ahead for the All Blacks, that's a state of affairs that can't continue if they want to keep winning.
They have to win the battle in the air, and they have to be more accurate – brutal even – around the breakdown area to ensure that their possession is not picked off as often as it was by France managed to do so in the second half.
But it's early to be fretting about what might lie ahead, especially when there were undeniable encouraging elements to the All Blacks' game.
Their set-piece was rock solid and the way they managed to win a scrum penalty in the last minute. 'We stayed brave which was the key,' head coach Scott Robertson said, confirming as he did, that he was largely content with what he saw from his team.
Gabin Villiere scores in last night's test. Photo / Getty Images
He admitted that the defence will need to improve in the coming weeks, but there were four strong performances from the debutantes, plenty of fight and desire to keep coming at the French and the necessary calm and leadership to get the job done.
And most importantly, he felt that the All Blacks had the intent to play at the breakneck pace he wants his team to play at.
The micro analysts will be able to pick apart the nuances of the new look All Blacks, but for the layman, it was obvious enough that there was greater certainty and more alignment in purpose when the All Blacks had the ball.
The All Blacks, mostly, knew that they knew their main objective was to play fast – to keep the French moving and their tacklers guessing. There were 18 handling errors – but that figure of itself doesn't diminish the potential of the All Blacks.
They seemed to have greater cohesion, awareness and confidence when they were in their purple patches.
The key new trick was seemingly borrowing from the playbook of the Irish team of 2022, who so cleverly and expertly worked consecutive back door plays with runners coming round the corner stacked one behind the other.
It's a ploy that suited the All Blacks well, as it enabled them to use Jordie Barrett as a first receiver, with Beauden Barrett able to influence the attack further from the set-piece.
It also enabled the All Blacks to bring Rieko Ioane off his wing and aim himself at attacking that vulnerable place outside the centre to force the French openside wing and fullback into making split decisions about whose responsibility he was to tackle.
For game one, it was encouraging if at times frustrating to see so much possession spilled, but the attacking shapes looked right and the All Blacks looked mostly comfortable playing at a tempo that had the French huffing and puffing at times.
The All Blacks may not have shown themselves to be definitively different to their 2024 selves, but there were at least good signs that the foundation is there for the changes to come.
Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand's most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and written several books about sport.