Weltnachrichten – AU – Mark Grund: The All Blacks are finally using their kick game – this is how you win at test rugby

OPINION: Finally, finally, finally the All Blacks have started. After weeks of confusion, New Zealand was playing with something nearing tactical maturity. Okay so it was only an approximation of the Argentine B-team they beat, but at least the kind of win should encourage the nation on their way into next year.

Hopefully by now Ian Foster and his coaches have learned that no team can disregard international rugby. It is not a fantasy game where multiple attempts at amusement equate to. At its best, international rugby is a grueling competition of intellect, strength and skill. At best, international rugby is decided by a moment or two of ugly determination or fine skill.

New Zealand will certainly remember the 2011 World Cup final. There was all that confidence in the match. The mighty All Blacks would run rings around the French until Les Bleus could barely stand for fraud. It was going to be a hometown festival.

It didn’t happen, just like it didn’t when Steve Hansen’s men squealed home at 20:18 in the 2015 World Cup semi-finals against South Africa. The All Blacks scored a total of three attempts in these games, two of them forward. They had to work for every last drop of fame.

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New Zealand had to put away the cotton candy basketball. Leave it to Steve Adams and the pelicans. Rugby at the highest level is more like staring at a wild boar in the bush. It’s physical, brutal, bloody and you should always have your wits and agility at hand.

It gave insight into what is required in the shutdown against Argentina. New Zealand did not try to swing the ball back and forth as it did in the early Hansen years. But even then it was always fantasy rugby.

It worked for a while because the rest of the world was utter garbage at the beginning of the decade. But in the long run it was always a breeze. By the end of the decade, South Africa had come out of the wild and the Northern Hemisphere had grown up under their teachers for the Southern Hemisphere. The light beats were gone. You had to win in international rugby. Most of the yards were tough.

And New Zealand played like that on Saturday. This may be a repetitive mantra, but if the pages aren’t learning then you need to hold on to it. The All Blacks’ three best performances in the past 14 months – against Ireland in the World Cup quarter-finals, Australia in Bledisloe 3 and Argentina over the weekend – all came from a kick game.

Mario Ledesma, Argentina coach, had no doubt about where the game was won and lost. He said New Zealand « used its feet very well and put us under pressure ». . Pumas playmaker Nicolas Sanchez made the same point when the All Blacks played more with their feet.

How ironic for Argentina on a day when Diego Maradona, number 10 in football, was about to be celebrated. But the All Blacks defused that from the start. I suspect there was more than a mark of respect when Sam Cane put an All Blacks number 10 shirt on his back halfway down the street with the name Maradona on it. He defused Latin emotions and proverbs; “Diego was so good that he could have played for us. ”

It certainly didn’t seem to be Argentina anymore, as did the opening salvo of the All Blacks. The Barrett brothers kicked three times in the first 75 seconds. And the kicks kept going until there was no doubt which number 10 would prevail in this match. Richie Mo’unga was far from perfect – and both he and Beaudie struggled with the range of their cross kicks, suggesting the ball continued to wander in the extreme heat – but Mo’unga trumped Sanchez, who is a grumpy figure saw when he was replaced.

The All Blacks kick game gave Argentina nothing to score. And it also allowed the strikers to really increase breathing space when it was their time to carry it. The only criticism is that they could have kicked a little better. But then they don’t get too much practice.

Even so, the ball did not jump in their direction. A mo’unga kick would have triggered an attempt if Beaudie hadn’t lost control under pressure from the Argentine center-back. And a Beaudie chip might have made Mo’unga run away if the ball hadn’t bounced sideways.

With the exception of Jack Goodhue, most backs kicked the ball at some point. If he is to keep playing 12, the coaches need to work on his ability to leave the cultivator behind. The All Blacks coaches worked very hard with Ma’a Nonu on the same skill and were able to develop it with Goodhue.

It can go against the grain because Super Rugby has created so many false expectations. Even Justin Marshall, usually a shrewd analyst, said in the second half; “The All Blacks have to put the shoe down if they want to secure a bonus point and try a few times. You are speculators. Maybe they need to rethink their game plan and put the shoe down and hold the ball. ”

I would argue some that some of the all-running, all-running rugby games they have been playing in the past few weeks are far more speculative. And praise be, the All Blacks haven’t put their boots down. They kept arresting Argentina and when the cougars tried the desperate counterattack, Will Jordan picked them up by pinching from the outside.

For the past decade, the All Blacks have tried to play too much pretty rugby at times. There was a lot of face paint and not a lot of primer. Perhaps the casual rugby tourist enjoyed the spectacle, but for those with souls absorbed in the game, it has often appeared as superficial ridicule.

So it was good to see them return to reality. It was good to see the strikers move up because the pack just needs to reach parity and the back wins the game. It was good to see the defense come in from the outside. It was good to see a more ruthless cleanup and competition for the opposing ball.

Above all, it was good to see that the team used the kick with tactical maturity. Even Ardie Savea had a good kick behind him. The All Blacks never gave Argentina a respite and the final standings were an insult to their superiority. They slaughtered half a dozen tries and still won when they left. It wasn’t final because Argentina was a downside, but the All Blacks at least lit a candle of hope.

New Zealand National Rugby Union Team, Rugby Union, Ian Foster, Argentine National Rugby Union Team, Sam Cane