More high-tension, free-flowing rugby was assured in Saturday’s Lipovitan-D Rugby Championship Test between the All Blacks and Australia was likely, according to Beauden Barrett.
The trans-Tasman rivals traditionally played that way, and even if it were wet, the DNA, the breakdown and the things the All Blacks do to attack space wouldn’t change.
“That’s always the focus for us. We’ll come up with a plan, make some adjustments on what we did on Thursday night and get excited about training those this week,” Barrett said.
He hoped that out of the time-wasting controversy in Melbourne, more effort would be made to reduce cynical efforts to slow the game’s pace.
All kickers pushed the boundaries to shave time and protect a lead, but when the referee told you to get on with playing, you listen, he said.
Stoppages were one way of reducing the game from flowing freely. That often worked against the All Blacks’ efforts to play the game at pace.
“Fitter players should be rewarded by less stoppages and keeping the ball in play. It’s a better product of rugby. That suits me, and suits New Zealand rugby, so, hopefully, we’re trending in the right direction,” he said.
But the All Blacks were aware they hadn’t achieved what they wanted in Melbourne, and their review had highlighted that.
He acknowledged the Australians always came back, no matter the deficit and that was seen again in Melbourne.
“It’s an opportunity for us to look at ourselves in the mirror and our preparation after getting too complacent after getting a lead like we had.
“There are a few boys that are a bit scratchy at the moment, which is great. That’s where you want to be on a Monday, not feeling comfortable at all, and plenty of edge in camp. There’s a lot to work on. We clearly didn’t put an 80-minute performance together on Thursday night, and that’s the challenge this week.
“It’s reassuring that when we do what we train, we can perform well, but we can’t allow ourselves to have mental lapses that gift them easy tries and the ability to make it a contest right down the stretch.
“We shot ourselves in the foot, we gave up a comprehensive lead, a lot of it was individual errors or mental lapses.”
Smith said they were conscious that they scored many of their points when Australia had reduced numbers – a point hit home during their review.
Knowing they were going into the Auckland Test with the Rugby Championship on the line made it like playing a final.
“Being part of a game like this is very special,” he said.
While it had been nice to lock up the Bledisloe Cup for another season, the lesson from the game, especially from the 56th minute, was that it was always going to be tough when letting Australia back. The All Blacks had succumbed to the pressure they imposed on themselves through lack of execution and indiscipline.
Australia had taken the momentum through the final quarter because of that.
“The good thing is a lot of that is under our control.”
Australia would front up in Auckland. They played an exciting brand of rugby and would pick a team to try and beat up the All Blacks.
But it was also a chance for the All Blacks ‘to clean up a few things’, in their game in their last Test at home this year, he said.
