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Plenty to Work on for All Blacks After Win over Samoa
Published: July 8, 2015
It was no surprise that the Samoans brought bundles of energy and passion. They tore into the breakdowns and threw themselves into tackles, putting the All Blacks under pressure and depriving them of good balls to work with.
The intensity from the All Blacks though, was very much lacking. While they got the better of the scrums, eventually, the New Zealand forward pack did not bring the speed or accuracy to negate their physical opponents.
Of course it was only the first hit out of the season and often the All Blacks do look rusty in these, but it dangerous to put it all down to this.
Whether the mobility of the tight five is still at the standard required is questionable. Granted they have not seen game time for a few weeks, but you do not see Tony Woodcock or Keven Mealamu getting around the field at anywhere near the speed they used to.
When you are struggling for protection at the breakdown, you really need your tight five to step up and start getting to more rucks at a faster rate. But you really have to question whether those two are still capable of doing that, and if they cannot, whether they are still the best men to have in the squad, even as back-ups.
The All Blacks were not committing huge numbers to the breakdown, often having only one or two players over the ball to withstand the barrage of pressure coming from the Samoan cleaners. It was eerily similar to the tactics that proved to be the downfall for an ageing Springboks pack at the last World Cup.
Are these men being clung on to for too long?
Of the other tight forwards, Owen Franks got around the field well, but seems to have gotten into a habit of getting up offside and giving away penalties. Luke Romano battled wit...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union
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