AB defence a work in progress
New Zealand assistant coach Wayne Smith has pointed to a lack of time together as the main reason for glitches in the modified All Blacks defence this year.
New Zealand assistant coach Wayne Smith has pointed to a lack of time together as the main reason for glitches in the modified All Blacks defence this year.
The All Blacks' Tri-Nations campaign has gotten off to a stuttered start as uncharacteristic missed tackles and defensive miscommunication eventually cost the home side victory against South Africa in Dunedin a fortnight ago.
Smith said it would take time for players to fully adapt to the multiple systems being introduced by the coaching staff and mistakes were bound to creep in.
“The All Black environment, because of the lack of time together, it's not a good environment to learn new things in,” Smith told NZPA.
“There have been some mistakes made that we perhaps wouldn't have made in the past but I think it will benefit us in the future because we'll have a more varied defence for different situations.”
Smith hopes that with a more experienced side having been named for Saturday's first Bledisloe Cup Test against Australia in Sydney, the All Blacks will not suffer from the same defensive uncertainty.
“We just have to keep working at being more composed and shutting out games when the opportunity is there. That will come with experience,” Smith said.
“I always think 28 points is enough to win any test match and really that should have been enough to win,” he added, referring to the 28-30 loss to the Springboks.
The All Blacks assistant coach also commented that Australia continue to be the innovators in world rugby back play and the Wallabies' new-look fly-half/centre combination of Matt Giteau and Berrick Barnes made them as difficult to prepare for as any Australian side – he should know, being a veteran of 21 Bledisloe Cup Tests (as a player and coach) himself.
“When I was playing, there was always the (Mark) Ellas and (Michael) Hawkers and (David) Campeses and (Brendan) Moons,” said Smith.
“They were always the world leaders of their era and some of these blokes are world leaders in their era.”
“[Barnes] has got a lot more impact on the game than he did a couple of years ago,” said Smith, who added that Ryan Cross was more than capable of replacing injured Wallaby captain Stirling Mortlock at centre.
“Obviously they'll be down on experience but in terms of style of play and ball-carries, I think Cross does a lot of the same.
“You just had to look at the Western Force against the Crusaders, I thought he had a top game that day against a lot of our blokes.”
“Us and them, I would say, play the most expansive rugby of all the international teams,” he added.
“The French have on occasion in the past but generally the All Blacks and the Aussies play with more width and have a greater attacking attitude.”