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Rugby World Cup 2015: All Blacks Show Brain Is Mightier Than Brawn
Published: November 1, 2015
Yes, they stood strong in the scrum, hit rucks with ferocity and made their tackles, but it was the way New Zealand thought their way out of problems that was most impressive about their 34-17 win.
Take the first 20 minutes. They were sending runners into traffic to bludgeon their way toward Australia’s line, and it wasn’t working.
The quality combination of David Pocock and Michael Hooper was producing turnover ball that their team-mates could clear, and the All Blacks were reduced to kicking their goals when penalty chances arose—no bad thing when your kicker is Dan Carter, of course.
But it was the clever way New Zealand changed tack that marks this team as a cut above the rest. Acknowledging that they were coming off second best at the breakdown, they decided it would be more prescient to keep the ball off the floor, to pass out of the tackle rather than die with the ball.
It is no surprise that the player who took this philosophy to its most profitable conclusion was Conrad Smith, who took a pass from Aaron Smith, ran into his defenders, turned his back and popped the ball to the scrum-half, sucking in two Wallabies tacklers and giving Smith, Richie McCaw and Nehe-Milner Skudder a majority share of the right side of the field for the wing to exploit with a try.
The pre-game talk of the threat posed by Pocock and Hooper on the ground was also clearly not lost on Steve Hansen’s men. The best way to stop them slowing your ball down or nicking it at the ruck is to ensure they don’t get there.
As the Guardian’s Dean Ryan pointed out, New Zealand operated their lineout in such a way as to keep Pocock handcuffed...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union
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