Stunning second half surge for All Blacks

The All Blacks made a stunning comeback against France at Eden Park on Saturday night. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

An unstoppable seven-try second half blitz by the All Blacks powered them to a 52-11 win over France last night at Eden Park, and lit the touch paper on their 2018 international season.

The last time the Men in Black ran out onto this ground 11 months ago they stumbled to a hugely frustrating 15-15 draw with the British and Irish Lions.

Normal service, they will feel, has been resumed.

They're back to winning ways on the turf they have not lost on since 1994.

Even so, no-one could have seen a performance of this accuracy and explosiveness coming. Though they weren't at full strength, and would inevitably have opening night rustiness to deal with, the script said the All Blacks should have too much for the undermanned and jet-lagged French in perfect conditions in front of a sellout 45,850 crowd. A 50-point blowout though? Mais non!

But if that was the script, the first few pages must have been ripped out of the copy delivered to the French dressing room. For the first 38 minutes they more than held their own, bustling the New Zealanders into errors and tackling for keeps. Defence was a key strength for the French, as Steve Hansen acknowledged pre-match, and was looking like it might just play a part in the outcome.

There were also moments of traditional French verve. A try to wing Remi Grosso, gleefully galloping into open pasture from a ruck turnover, opened the scoring after six minutes.

Moments later some of that All Black rustiness perhaps showed as Ryan Crotty found himself in possession and needing to pass to the open man on his left to beat the last line of defence, but for reasons known only to himself sent it in the other direction.

A successful Beauden Barrett penalty, after brother Jordy had missed an earlier attempt from greater distance, put the All Blacks on the board. Veteran French halfback Morgan Parra then added three points after his opposite number Aaron Smith backchatted English referee Luke Pearson, who promptly marched the penalty ten metres upfield and into a more kickable position.

A minute later the Barrett brothers, all three of them - making history as the first fraternal trio to run on in an All Black starting 15 – stretched the script to the point of incredulity by combining to create and execute their side's opening try. Scott put in some hard yards upfield and off-loaded in a tackle to Jordy. After passing through the hands of Ryan Crotty the ball reached Beauden who finished in the corner. The conversion would have put the home side in front for the first time, but the fairytale turned just a little sour at that point with Beauden failing with his attempt from the sideline.

Instead it was the French who set up an 11-8 halftime lead with Parra's second penalty, a prodigious effort from his own side of halfway.

It was, though, somewhat remarkable they kept that lead at the break. The All Blacks finished the half in dominant mood with Chiefs midfield powerhouse Anton Lienert-Brown having a try turned down by the TMO after some obstruction earlier in the move, and the on-field referee ruling the ball was held up when the forwards rumbled it over the line.

They couldn't get the halftime lead, but the tide had turned for the All Blacks. They began the second spell as they had finished the first, hard on attack, and from then on their foot very rarely left the French throat.

Substitutions don't often bring the house down, but the arrival of Chiefs prop Karl Tu'inukuafe in the 46th minute came close. The big front-rower who only resumed his dormant rugby career in 2014 after a warning from his doctor to get more exercise or possibly face early death has become a cornerstone of the Chiefs scrum, the strongest in Super Rugby, catching the eye of the national selectors in the process. Perhaps just to add an exclamation mark to Tu'inukuafe's debut he immediately overpowered his opposite in his first scrum to win a penalty.

As symbolic as that scrum was of the All Blacks' growing dominance, they also had a little luck to thank. The French were unfortunate to go down to 14 men after 51 minutes when lock Paul Gabrillagues was harshly yellow-carded for a high tackle on Ryan Crotty. Three All Black tries followed in the ten minutes he was off the field, and the result put beyond doubt.

Hooker Codie Taylor had the first of those tries, having only to collect the ball in the left wing position and fall over the line following a superb Beauden Barrett kick behind the wide defence. Moments later he could have had another after popping up on the opposite wing and finding the ball in his hands from a flowing passing move. He could perhaps have got over the line in the tackle but wisely chose to offload to an ideally positioned Ben Smith who touched down.

From a lineout maul after the All Blacks had chosen to kick a penalty to the corner Aaron Smith found an unmarked Rieko Ioane on the left wing, who went over untouched.

The French were restored to 15 men but the onslaught continued. Damian McKensie who had entered in place of Jordy Barrett moments earlier had a try with virtually his first touch, finding the French defence out of position after a turnover on halfway.

From the kickoff McKensie then scythed through again and found Ngani Laumape, also a recent arrival in the game, who bumped off his marker to get over the line.

As if the French evening hadn't already been thoroughly spoiled they then had a rare attacking moment of their own, only to have to troop 95 metres back to their own line after Ioane who sprinted that distance to score from an interception.

McKensie could have had a possible second try turned down by the TMO, but it was replacement flanker Ardie Savea who rounded off the try scoring, muscling through several tacklers to get over.

Beauden Barrett would have been relieved to kick the conversion after managing just two others, along with two penalties. Although his kicking from hand and general game management were close to faultless he'll be working hard on his goalkicking form with potentially tighter test matches to come.

The first of those sterner examinations for the All Blacks may come early as next week, as the French have a number of reinforcements arriving for the second Steinlager test in Wellington. So a number of areas of improvement will occupy the minds of the coaching staff, not least of which will be their slow start at Eden Park.

For a first up effort though from a supposedly rusty team, that'll do very nicely.

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2 comments

great

Posted on 10-06-2018 12:50 | By dumbkof2

well after last nights game it's good bye to that grandstanding. hollywood attention seeking player that should have stayed in league


Sing when you win

Posted on 10-06-2018 19:05 | By maildrop

Very underwhelming performance until the referee handed it to the ABs by incorrectly binning the French boy. He then doubled down by failing to bin Kane. Usual bias shown to the ABs, particularly on home soil. Every team has to play 16. Until the binning you would have thought it was being played behind closed doors. The crowd was absolutely silent. Thus proving, you only sing when you're winning. Stupid game anyway. They've all got brain injuries. Saw one boy on Breakfast TV. He could barely string two words together. Head bangers.


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