What we learned as All Blacks trounce 15-man France 49-14 in Third Test

Alex Broun 14:50 23/06/2018
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  • Rieko Ioane completed a hat-trick against France

    An entertaining an open Test in Dunedin where France finally managed to keep all 15-men on the field and adopted an open approach against world No1 New Zealand.

    With the match becoming a contest in attacking brilliance there of course would only be one winner and the All Blacks 49-14, seven tries to two, victory reflected their dominance.

    But with the Rugby Championship only two months away what did we learn about the reigning Rugby World Cup, Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup holders.

    Very little fear factor with All Blacks

    Perhaps its Steve Hansen’s constant rotations or the effect of Super Rugby but what was interesting right from the start was Les Bleus willingness to get their hands on the ball.

    Every single France player wanted a piece of the action to take on the much vaunted All Blacks defence.

    France opened the scoring with a try on 12 minutes to replacement scrumhalf Baptiste Serin and it was no less than they deserved after dominating possession and territory for the opening stanza.

    There were a few stinging tackles from New Zealand but nothing to make the French hesitant.

    Of course defending the All Blacks is another matter and as soon as they got any possession Ben Smith was over to even the scores.

    Keep the ball however and these All Blacks will give you a chance.

    France also looked to have unearthed a good combination in veteran scrumhalf Morgan Parra and flyhalf Anthony Belleau.

    The No10 has been a real issue for Les Bleus in recent seasons and hopefully the 22-year-old Toulon pivot is the answer.

    Sonny Bill Williams was back to his best against France

    Sonny Bill Williams was back to his best against France

    SBW back to his best

    Steve Hansen has a number of extremely tantalizing options in the midfield for the Rugby Championship.

    But against France Sonny Bill Williams was back to his best, holding the ball in one hand and charging at the Les Bleus defence, offloading at will.

    The first decision for the New Zealand boss is who does he put at No12 – Ryan Crotty or SBW – then once that decision has been made he has Anton Lienert-Brown, Ngani Laumape or Jack Goodhue to slot in at outside centre.

    Goodhue did well in his first Test and Hansen seems to prefer Lienert-Brown but for me the Hurricanes Laumape is the most dangerous runner.

    The All Blacks have an incredibly exciting array of backline talent to call on and against France their virtually second-string line-up was scorching.

    Hansen will probably opt for the Barrett brothers back in his starting XV which means the 15-9 positions will look like: Aaron Smith, Beauden Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Sonny Bill Williams, Anton Lienert-Brown or Ryan Crotty, Ben Smith, Jordie Barrett with TJ Perenra and Damian McKenzie on the bench allowing a 6-2 forward-backs split in the replacements.

    SBW went off with (another) shoulder injury late on – so let’s hope he is not on the sidelines for long. Rugby needs his panache.

    Scrum weakness

    The All Blacks of course may just be selling their Rugby Championship opponents a huge dummy but their scrum looked far from impressive against France.

    Hansen could have easily told the ABs pack to take their foot off the gas so the Wallabies, the All Blacks next opponents on August 18th, could falsely start to think there is a chink in the armor there – before turning it on in Sydney.

    New Zealand of course have had huge issues with injuries and suspensions to front rowers this June with Dane Coles a long-time casualty and both Joe Moody and Owen Franks spending time on the sidelines due to indiscretions.

    It means Hansen has had to go deep into his prop reserves with unlikely candidates like Karl Tu’inukuafe elevated to the famous Black jersey.

    Moody and Franks were back to the starting line-up for this Test but were easily held by a France pack not known for their scrumming power.

    Indeed the NZ scrum looked better when Tu’inukuafe and Ofa Tu’ungafasi came on in the second half.

    True the All Blacks were missing Brodie Retallick at lock and Kieran Read at No8, who add to the power at scrum time, but it would be surprising if New Zealand dominated at scrum time in the Rugby Championship.

    And at this point actually look like the weakest scrumming unit against a resurgent South Africa, an improving Australia and even up-and-down Argentina.

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