All Blacks cannot afford to be ‘one-dimensional’ against Los Pumas in Rugby Championship opener
New Zealand's Richie Mo'unga during the Autumn International match at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff. All Blacks
All Blacks fly-half Richie Mo’unga suggested that his side could get punished by Argentina if they are “one-dimensional” in their Rugby Championship opener in Mendoza this weekend.
The realisation comes from reflecting on last year’s competition, where the All Blacks suffered a 25-18 defeat to Argentina in Christchurch – their first loss to the South Americans on New Zealand soil.
Lessons learned
Mo’unga insists lessons were learned from the clash, and an important takeaway is not to allow the raging physicality of Los Pumas into the game as they did on the day.
“Real good lessons learned in Christchurch,” Mo’unga said.
“When you get one-dimensional about your style of play against the Argentinians, that’s when you can pay [the price]. They are a big physical team, real good loose forwards who want to get on the ball and love to jackal.
“Discipline let us down, as well.”
Unlike in World Cup years where the Rugby Championship is shortened, last year saw the All Blacks line up against Los Pumas in New Zealand again a week after their loss with a completely different outcome.
The New Zealanders put together a spectacular performance and absolutely dominated their opposition 53-3 in Hamilton. Mo’unga believes not trying to match them “passion for passion” was a key difference and allowed the side to execute their exits and kicking game more effectively.
“I guess the big difference was we used attacking kicks,” Mo’unga said in reference to Hamilton. “We sort of won our exits a bit better, and were able to get penalties in their half, which gave us entries in their 22. Not trying to match them, passion for passion, but being really smart about how we play footy.
“It has to be brutal in terms of winning collisions, as well, but understanding when they have won the battle, and we need to get to our kicking game. It is also variety of how we attack as well.”
Last year started badly for the All Blacks, with head coach Ian Foster almost being sacked. However, he called on former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt who made an immediate difference in the setup.
Attention to detail
Mo’unga praised the coach’s attention to detail, highlighting that as a key component within the squad who finished the year strongly.
“Margins in footy are so small, they can be as small as work-rate, or winning the ruck,” Mo’unga said.
“I think he [Schmidt] brings that bit of detail to this team, and also, with him having a lot more time to work on the championship, he comes in with some awesome ideas and how he can bring variation to our game.
“But also how we have just got to keep nailing the small things and keep winning momentum and collisions.”
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