After defeating Six Nations winners and top-ranked Ireland 23–13, New Zealand will travel to France for the Test match next Saturday. The All Blacks ended the hosts’ 19-match winning home streak by outthinking and outfighting an unusually careless Irish team.
Ahead of their first game at the Stade de France since losing 12–11 to South Africa in the World Cup final last year, AFP Sport identifies three elements that will boost New Zealand’s spirits.
Like their thrilling 28-24 victory over the Irish in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal last year, the All Blacks’ success was based on a strong defence.
Josh van der Flier of the hosts scored a try early in the second half, but the All Blacks put an end to their attempts, so they hardly had a chance to start an Irish barrage. Head coach Scott Robertson was ecstatic by this performance. “We produced some really incredible defensive plays when we did get the opportunity,” he stated.
“We made some tackles and their discipline went and we managed to get inside their half and put a little bit of pressure and that led to some points so we could play from the front.” It has been a mixed first year for Robertson, who took over following the World Cup final, as they have lost three Rugby Championship Test matches, including one against Argentina. News for The Daily Rugby
The 50-year-old, known as “Razor,” claimed that Friday’s change was due to the scrum demonstrating that they had learnt from their mistakes in earlier defeats. “Yeah, look, as I’ve said before, every game we could have won this year,” he said. “We got a couple of scrum penalties that swung the momentum back our way, which sometimes have gone the other way.”
Scrum-half might be Robertson’s primary selection dilemma for the France Test. Since the legendary Aaron Smith retired following the World Cup final defeat to the Springboks, there hasn’t been a definite number one as of yet. Cortez Ratima, who started against Ireland, had a terrible game, particularly in the breakdowns. He was outplayed by the home team’s Jamison Gibson-Park and was taken off the pitch early in the second half.
Cam Roigard, his substitute, appeared more confident after recovering from a severe knee injury. However, part of the responsibility for Ratima’s issues at the breakdown fell on All Blacks captain Scott Barrett.
“At times our body height was a little bit high and they were able to disrupt and we gave Cortez some messy balls, so yeah, I guess it’s on us,” he continued. “That’s probably the first thing to address next week.” According to Robertson, who commended both, Ratima was “learning really quickly” while Roigard, who is 23 years old, had all the “attributes” necessary for Test rugby and is “really classy.”
“We’ve got some great competition at half-backs,” he stated. Nothing makes a team happier than when their captain takes charge when he notices anything on the pitch that bothers him. The animosity between the sides is reminiscent of a positive interaction between the All Blacks and now-retired Irish legend Johnny Sexton.
“I don’t usually take exception, but I saw something that was below the line for me,” he stated. It appeared like Damian (McKenzie) was on the ground when I was going out of a ruck, and I believe Joe cleaned him up. “From what I could see, it appeared to be around his head and something like a shoulder. “I had to make a point of, it’s not tonight, you’re targeting our 10 like that.”
