Last week, I wrote about the All Blacks’ defeat against the Springboks and pointed to a few key areas where they fell down on their way to a hefty defeat in Mbombela. To be specific, I wrote about the following as key areas I felt they should focus on.
Fluidity is fine but the All Blacks are so fluid that they’re running down the gutter at the moment. They can tighten up, and drive more through the forwards without losing their identity. I think a change to Mo’unga at #10 could go a long way to shoring up their offensive problems too. It’s not what he can do as a ball player – it’s what he can allow others to do.
If they can get the exact same possession this weekend and bring their PPC rating down in the forwards – less screen passing, more direct carrying – they can and will score tries without compromising their vision or kicking the leather off the ball.
During the previous week, the All Blacks ran with a very expansive, wide-intent game that produced a Pass Per Carry rate of 1.64 on 45% possession. That is incredibly high but those values are linked. The All Blacks were losing on the scoreboard early and struggled to retain the ball at the breakdown so they tried to play around the impasse, only to find themselves broken up by the Springboks’ line speed and breakdown dominance.
The All Blacks were, at a base level, trying to draw out and play around the Springboks outside edge blitz to unlock the wide channels but by chasing after that space aggressively through forward passing, they made it harder to attain.
With Beauden Barrett having a weird game on ball, the All Blacks struggled for attacking coherence and one way or the other, it would have to change for this past Saturday. That would be achieved by forcing Beauden Barret to have more discipline or by replacing him entirely with Richie Mo’unga who, while offering less as a direct attacking threat himself, is a far more disciplined and coherent attacking organiser.
Foster decided to move Beauden Barrett to the bench in favour of Mo’unga but, crucially, seemed to learn the lesson from the previous week in that you can’t pass around this Springbok high edge blitz defence with a high Pass Per Carry game. This is a fundamental lesson for Andy Farrell and his Irish squad after the first test in Mbombela juxtaposed so clearly with this past weekend’s game in Ellis Park.
In Ellis Park, the All Blacks played a far more disciplined passer at #10, tightened up their attacking shape but, crucially, pulled their forward passing game way back. In Mbombela, the All Blacks starting pack had a combined PPC rate of 0.91. In Ellis Park, that PPC rate was 0.6 which is a huge reduction week on week and reflects a far more direct approach, both in intent and actual practice onfield.
What does this mean in practicality? This clip illustrates it fairly clearly in the aftermath of a stolen Springbok lineout.
De Groot carries straight with Whitelock & Barrett loading up both barrels of the right and left cleaning lane. They blast the tacklers out of the contact point and create a clean platform for Smith. In this instance, Savea makes a quick pick-and-go on the next phase but he made that carry into space created by a strong direct carry.
When this is used with a 3-3-1 shape, it allows you to create depth and produce opportunities for your backs to make plays with other backs.
Using a flat 3-3-1 to roll across the face of the Springboks defence and actual engage them in direct contract produced more isolations for backs to play in lateral and vertical space. It produced the opportunity to exploit the high edge blitz early in the game that produced tangible results.
A flat 1-3-3-1 shape with a willing passer at #10, a second playmaker at #12, a power winger at #11, a strike runner at #13, a strike running auxiliary playmaker at #15 and an outside winger at #14 will create playable opportunities.
The All Blacks were still playing the 3-2-X on transition to mixed results but their 3-3-1 shape with direct carrying off #9 for the majority of their phases produced consistent opportunities that they converted into points.
By tightening up their carrying game, they used the Springboks’ generally policy of not competing at most central breakdowns against them. Without constant tip on passing or screen ball usage, the All Blacks were able to retain possession easier and create angles for their backs to attack. When the time was right, when they had committed defenders, they worked the screen or the tip-on far more effectively and efficiently.
It goes to show that sometimes doing more isn’t what you need to improve. Sometimes all you have to do is tighten up your carry, run straight and set simple targets that allow your forwards to win the violence over the ball and let your backs work angles, run lines and make gains in the wider channels.
Simplicity and violence is always a good place to start, or start again.
