New Zealand will concentrate on their planning and clarity once arriving in London ahead of their final Test of the year against England at Twickenham on Sunday (NZT).
Coach Ian Foster said the reduced time to prepare for their game after the Monday (NZT) Test win over Scotland forced a shift in their preparation plans.
Because of the reduced turnaround the early part of the week would involve more thinking and clarity before ramping up the on-field activity towards the end of the week.
Foster said there was excitement in the camp ahead of the England game, and playing at Twickenham was always a special occasion.
That would be more the case after coming through their tough Test with Scotland. The manner in which they achieved the win put them in a great position heading to London.
The discipline issues that affected the All Blacks’ mid-game performance reflected a lack of accuracy at key times.
“I think a lot of that was over-enthusiasm. We were desperate to try and stop the momentum that Scotland were getting and rushed at a few things, whether it be an offside or decision-making around the breakdown.
“It came from a good space. It was the guys working hard to wrestle back the momentum in that Test but again, if your not accurate, it hurts you.
“We certainly got frustrated at scrum time, but once we got on top of that and sorted that out, we saw the correct pictures start to emerge. It was good problem solving.
“We back our scrum, we think our scrum has done really well at the moment. The work that Greg Feek has been doing there is great and we felt we had the upper hand in that space but we’ve got to make sure we work with the officials to make sure we’re giving them the pictures they want to see.”
England prop Kyle Sinckler acknowledged the challenge ahead in the first clash of the sides since England’s semifinal win at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
“What’s interesting about them is that when people watch the All Blacks, they say ‘great play, loads of offloads, great running game with Rieko Ioane, Caleb Clarke, Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo’unga.
“They’re great ball in hand players, but they’re also unbelievably physical – really good scrum, great set-piece. Put your head in a breakdown and they’re absolutely clearing you out.
“That was the biggest surprise for me when I first played New Zealand – I thought, ‘these guys are really physical’.
“If they need to play wide, they can. If they need to play through and use their set-piece, they can.
“That was a real eye-opener for me. They can do the flashy stuff but the nuts and bolts of their game are also very impressive.”
