Where the ABs need to pick up their game

A win and a loss against the world champion Springboks have left the All Blacks open to examination as they try to defend their Tri-Nations title. Co-editors Duncan Johnstone and Marc Hinton look at the problem areas ahead of next week's Bledisloe Cup clash with Australia.

Johnstone pokes his nose into the mixed effort of the forwards while Hinton ponders how a star-studded backline failed to cross the tryline against the Boks.

Certainly the All Blacks are a work-in-progress as they go about their rebuilding project following the loss of so many experienced players.

And it seems some areas are proving difficult to provide an instant fix.

 

THE FORWARDS - Duncan Johnstone

Let's start with the obvious difficulties in the second row. We can glow all we like about the scrum but the lineout remains a major concern.

The Springboks picked off the All Blacks' ball with ease at times and you can be sure that the Wallabies will be targeting this area as well.

When New Zealand have fielded Ali Williams and Brad Thorn they have been adequate in the lineouts and certainly dynamic around the field and at scrum time.

But the lack of depth below this pair is worrying as was exposed at Carisbrook when rookies Anthony Boric and Kevin O'Neill were left in charge.

Have the selectors got it right with their choices? That's questionable.

There are no doubts about the ability of Williams or Thorn to operate at this level.

But why is a seasoned lineout practicioner like Tom Donnelly being overlooked? And the same could be said of the experienced Ross Filipo and Jason Eaton now that they are match fit again after solid stints with New Zealand Maori.

The All Blacks need to do plenty of work in this area ahead of Sydney. They have shown little imagination with the relaxed lineout laws being played under the ELVs in the Tri-Nations and you can expect a few tricks coming out of the Wallabies' camp.

Then there's the back row. Richie McCaw's injury has really upset the mix here and shown that, as predicted by RugbyHeaven some time ago, New Zealand's stocks at No 7 are alarmingly thin for a position we have always prided ourselves in.

That the All Blacks are prepared to go back to Daniel Braid, unwanted since 2003, says it all. No disrespect to Braid, but what has happened in the four and a half years since then in terms of development by the threee wise men?

Rodney So'oialo has performed competently in McCaw's absence but the problem with moving So'oialo around the back row as they have done all season is that you create another concern from the position he has just vacated.

Take blindside. Adam Thomson's inexperience was evident at Carisbrook as the Boks upped the ante. He was in the wrong places at the wrong time too often. There's a suspicion that, by playing Thomson with his attacking instincts as a six-and-a-half, a bit of the donkey work that goes with the traditional blindside flanker's role is being neglected.

The All Blacks' decision to play a left-right style with their flankers has also been a concern defensively.

Graham Henry noted they were exposed with their blindside defence in the win in Wellington at times. So what happens? They cough up virtually a carbon-copy try down the blindside off a Boks' scum a week later in Dunedin.

At No 8 Jerome Kaino didn't back up effectively against the Springboks. He had a huge game in Wellington followed by an average performance down south. Great All Blacks sides are built around consistency of performance from individuals.

Kaino's back of the scrum work with halfback Andy Ellis has also been messy.

With Braid in the mix the selectors will have more options to tinker with at six and eight and Sione Lauaki's slow but pleasing return to form will have them pondering what's best.

They need to make sure they come up with the right combination because the Wallabies have proven ball-winners in George Smith and Phil Waugh to complement the more direct approach of Rocky Elsom and Wycliff Palu.

The All Blacks will need to maximise their scrum advantage against the Wallabies. Hats off to the Boks here because, whether it was their prematch talk with the referee, or just some good old-fashioned work on the training field, they certainly made big ground with their scrum work between their two tests in New Zealand.

But the All Blacks may have helped them there by taking top tighthead Greg Somerville out of the equation for the rematch.

With Somerville having signalled his move offshore at the end of the year there will be the temptation to keep tinkering on that side of the scrum.

But the Tri-Nations title is on the line now and the All Blacks can't afford to drop two matches in a row. This isn't a time to tinker now.

Again it's a situation that places pressure on the All Blacks' selection process.

At their best the All Blacks pack achieved a pass mark over the two tests against South Africa.

But once injuries and suspension hit, it all looked a bit more jittery at times as the inexperience brought about by the rebuilding process was plain to see.

You can be sure Robbie Deans will have noticed.

 

THE BACKS - Marc Hinton

Where do I start? How about this glaring fact: in 160 minutes of Tri-Nations football an All Black back has yet to score a try. Now that's a pretty disappointing statistic for a side that prides itself on having the most potent backline in the world game.

So collectively it has not been at all convincing since the rugby suddenly turned serious and the world champions came to town for a fortnight.

But there are also some more specific areas that must have backs coach Wayne Smith pondering even more intensely than he usually does. Is Andy Ellis the answer at halfback? What's going on with Sitiveni Sivivatu? Does Rudi Wulf have true test class? Would Mils Muliaina be better off shifted on to the wing? And can the All Blacks continue to leave a player of Richard Kahui's ability kicking his heels while Conrad Smith get his chance at centre?

Elsewhere, Dan Carter gets a free pass because, well, because he's so damn good, and it would be a pretty harsh judge who would say Ma'a Nonu has had anything but a successful 2008 in the problem second five-eighths role. Besides, we're not exactly overflowing with alternatives right about now.

Now let me preface any nit-picking with the comment that it's not exactly time to push the panic button on the strength of one defeat to a side as good as the Springboks. But, then again, neither is it wise to ignore the glaringly obvious. And, let's face it, any time the All Blacks drop a home test is an occasion when a little bit of naval-gazing is warranted.

In the greater scheme of things the All Blacks probably over-achieved in Wellington with a pretty strong performance to shade the Boks in most aspects of the game; and took a step backward in Dunedin where they were outplayed up front, out-executed when it counted and paid the price for having such an inexperienced pack.

There's also a correlation between a pack struggling to assert itself, as the All Blacks did in Dunedin where they badly missed Brad Thorn and, for 60 minutes, Ali Williams, and a backline operating at less than peak efficiency. It's hard to launch anything of promise when your ball is static or even scrambling, least of all when you're up against a defensive line as outstanding as the Boks'.

Still, all of the above factored in, the All Blacks backs clearly aren't firing.

They've lacked penetration against the rushing defence, and on the odd occasion when the breach has been made the support runners have not been in place, or, even worse, not found by the man with ball in hand.

Many say the problems start at halfback with the lack of crisp clearance, and there's no doubt Ellis has struggled to assert himself after a promising sort of Iveco Series. He doesn't have the physical presence of, say, a Piri Weepu, nor the speed of foot of, say, a Brendon Leonard. He's really just a distributor, and right about now, he's not even managing that effectively.

Some will say he's not being helped by his forwards and there's some relevance in that. Ellis has not exactly had a dream run the last few weeks and he'll be hoping the return to a more traditional No 7 role will help clear things up around the breakdown.

But one thing is clear: the pressure is on the young Cantab. Weepu may be out of favour, but he has enormous support from the public; and even Jimmy Cowan, now he's back on the straight and narrow, might be considered worthy of getting a chance.

Let's move to the midfield. Why Smith and not Kahui? Experience. Combination. Nous. They're three factors the selectors would point to. I don't think there's any doubt Kahui has the more upside, but right now the view is that Smith deserves the chance to nail down a midfield pairing with Nonu. Fair enough. But we need to start seeing these two performing, and they wouldn't have been content with the overall balance of their battle with Jacobs and de Villiers. At best it was honours even.

Wing is much more of a problem area for the All Blacks right now. Sivivatu, who had the most convenient of injuries last Saturday night, looks like a bloke going through the motions and on the basis of the previous fortnight is not worthy of his place.

Wulf is a gutsy individual and takes solid options, but has yet to show he can beat a man one-on-one, while Anthony Tuitavake has been strangely given the cold shoulder thus far.

Some are saying Mils Muliaina should be shifted to the wing and in the absence of any other genuine contenders raising their hand, that's a possibility. It gets Leon MacDonald into the fray, too. But, gee, Muliaina is a good fullback, and it seems a shame to take him away from where he's most effective.

Joe Rokocoko can't get fit soon enough for the selectors' liking. But, like Leonard, it doesn't look like he's going to be a factor in this Tri-Nations. I'd play Tuitavake against the Wallabies, and give Sivivatu one last chance, with a flea in his ear, on the other. But Wulf seems to be a coach favourite, so it will be interesting to see what they do out wide. 

A lot of imponderables. And it's about time the All Black backs started providing some answers. Sydney awaits.

What do you see the All Blacks' main problems as they head into back-to-back tests against the Wallabies? Any areas concern you on the back of the Boks split? Have your say in our comments system below.

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