SUNDAY SPECIAL: An All Black performance to savour...
Unless you're in the school of thought that they always get away with murder!
The struggles against South Africa feel like a lifetime ago after the All Blacks impressively dismantled an understrength Wales 54-16 in Cardiff.
It was a night for Beauden Barrett’s legion of fans to rejoice as he scored two intercept tries and came within a fingertip of securing a third. However, in trying a failing at one intercept attempt, he got a bunch of people riled up.
Really? Didn’t Damian de Allende avoid yellow for exactly the same offence on the Gold Coast recently?
A penalty for trying and and failing to come up with an intercept is rugby’s dumbest law. Sure, if players are going to dive into passing lanes to swat the ball away, throw them in jail and starve them of sunlight for a month, but the intercept is a legitimate part of the game and the idea that a yellow card is just part of the risk-and-reward calculus is, IMHO, bonkers.
A better idea would be to draw and pass out of intercept range.
As it turned out, it wasn’t the only Barrett travesty. Someone at World Rugby came up with this bizarre image.
What the hell is going on there?
Here’s a quick non-Barrett themed notebook dump from the test.
NEPO Laulala was sinbinned for a high shot on Ross Moriarty, but did the ref get the right player?
To my eyes, Ethan Blackadder was the principal transgressor, with little or no attempt to use his arms. If anything, Laulala was desperately unlucky, with Moriarty ducking his head into the tackle.
While it’s admirable that World Rugby are emphasising that the head is sacrosanct, there needs to be some responsibility on the part of the ball carrier to keep himself safe too. Moriarty’s ball carry was awful.
FRANCE have produced some shocking referees in their recent history, but Mathieu Raynal looks the goods, even if Brenden Nel disagrees. I thought he had a good handle on that match and impressive feel for the game, it was just a shame he had to deal with a really intrusive TMO in Brian MacNeice.
WHILE it has to be recorded that Wales were understrength and lacking match sharpness, the All Blacks were still mighty impressive. While the last 20 minutes stand out because of the, wait for it, razzzzzzzle dazzzzzle, they only did so after building a platform with a disciplined, coherent first hour.
Tougher tests await, but there is a blueprint to follow.
THE contestable kick has been used as a weapon against the All Blacks, particularly by the Springboks. When you have the likes of Will Jordan and Jordie Barrett in the back field, non-contestable kicks just invite disaster.
YOU can’t have an All Black test without nitpicking and looking for “work ons”. It’s writ large in the NZ Sports Journalism Manual. With that in mind, the All Blacks looked a sharper, more energetic unit when Brad Weber replaced TJ Perenara. The starting halfback did not play poorly and scored a nice try, but his service looks more laboured compared to Weber and Aaron Smith in particular.
I remain to be convinced by the midfield. Anton Leinert-Brown, an Ian Foster favourite, was decent, especially on defence, but David Havili looks to be struggling with the demands of playing second five-eighth at test level. His industry is impressive but he tends to make a couple of execution errors every test.
AROUND THE TRAPS
Elsewhere, There was a flood of player ratings, which I have linked to in my order of preference (ie. which ones marry up to my own internal ratings). Stuff just pips Newshub to the punch.
In this piece from the Herald, Barrett reminisced elegantly on his path to 100 tests and the emotional toll of the past couple of weeks. My favourite quote:
“Dad [Kevin ‘Smiley’ Barrett] has a keg of Guinness and a ham on I think they're having a lunch there today. My family all went around and watched the game so they'll be making the most of Sunday. Special time on Lower Parihaka road.”
With this one not far behind:
“Now I’m a more senior player in the team and having a lot more responsibility in my life I view the game a little bit differently; there's a bigger picture and I’m more conscious of that and do things for different reasons now. It's all part of growing up, but I'm still very driven and determined. I’ve got plenty left in the tank.”
Stuff’s Marc Hinton reckons Ardie Savea might have outshone Barrett on his big night. This quote from Ian Foster is worth highlighting.
“I love the debate about [Ardie at] 7 or 8 because I have it myself. I love him at 7 and love him at 8. What we enjoy about him at 8 is we feel he can get his hands on the ball a little more.”
Jamie Wall at Radio New Zealand thoroughly enjoyed the watch, and shone a light on this little factoid.
“[The All Blacks] have scored 89 tries this year (admittedly helped a lot by the Tonga and USA mismatches) and are poised to be the first team to score 100 in a season with three tests left. Given the next test is against the hapless Italians in Rome, they may well be raising the bat next Sunday morning.”
There will be a more comprehensive look at the sporting weekend tomorrow, including the Black Caps and Black Ferns.