Rugby World Cup
All Blacks must fight looseness, lethargy and boredom against Georgia
John Mitchell
October 2, 2015
Will Georgia frustrate New Zealand?

While the All Blacks are perched comfortably atop Pool C after back-to-back victories, they have looked lethargic thus far at the Rugby World Cup. I believe the biggest thing for the All Blacks to work on heading into their next fixture against Georgia in Cardiff on Friday is their defence.

Steve Hansen's charges have proved slow to set and have been somewhat confused with their spacings. From a professional coaching perspective, I've observed that the spacing between defenders three and four off the ruck on the same side of attack has been a lot wider, thus presenting opportunities for the attacking team off quick ruck ball. There's also been indecision on some defensive lines, with the outside defenders jockeying and the inside defenders rushing. Unusually, the All Blacks' goal-line defence has been soft at times.

In terms of playing personnel, Hansen will be a bit worried about the defensive setting of tighthead prop Owen Franks. In addition, loosehead Tony Woodcock and flanker Jerome Kaino have yet to hit their straps at the World Cup. Meanwhile, first-choice fyhalf Dan Carter, who played 80 minutes against Argentina, was guilty of shovelling the ball too wide.

Furthermore, of the All Blacks' top 10 ball-carriers at the eighth edition of the Rugby World Cup, seven are backs and two are loose forwards. Second rower Sam Whitelock is the only tight-five player to make that list. Is the All Blacks' tight-five doing enough to win the advantage line? The forwards are very good at catch and pass, and tipping the ball on, but they need to work harder on the advantage line in attack to create room for the backs.

Some of the skill execution that has let the All Blacks down has been through looseness and laziness more than anything else. Moreover, they have utilised their blindside wings in close. While that strategy may work against the so-called minnows, it could well backfire later on in the tournament against tougher opposition whose first three defenders are quite strong.

© David Rogers/Getty Images

The reality is that the All Blacks also have to deal with the stop-start nature of games at this World Cup. Northern hemisphere referees don't always suit the All Blacks' approach of trying to build pressure with ball in hand and having long transitions. While Tonga -- New Zealand's final pool opponents -- may try to overplay their hand against the All Blacks, Georgia will certainly attempt to slow the game down, which the Namibians managed to do in New Zealand's last outing.

Over and above managing the tactical and technical elements of the game, I believe the biggest problem for the All Blacks will be boredom. Their first pool fixture against Argentina was a big battle because it was against a Rugby Championship team that knew a lot about them. However, the fact is Georgia and Tonga won't provide them with much of a challenge.

The big question is whether the All Blacks will be able to bridge the gap in intensity between their last two pool games and their quarterfinal fixture. In 2003, the All Blacks' toughest pool game against Wales was our last, but we had a five-day turnaround before our quarterfinal against South Africa. While we defeated the Springboks 29-9, in retrospect we probably over-recovered for the semifinal against the Wallabies in Sydney. We made a flat start to that game and got beaten to the punch at our midfield breakdown.

Meanwhile, in 2007, New Zealand were drawn in an easy pool -- with Scotland, Italy, Romania and Portugal -- and came unstuck in a tough quarterfinal contest against France. In contrast, the All Blacks' toughest pool game at the 2011 World Cup -- against the French -- was their third match of the competition. As a result, the hosts were relatively battle-hardened by the time they reached the knockout stage of the showpiece two weeks later in Auckland.

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Fast forward to 2015 and, apart from Argentina, the All Blacks face favourable opposition during the pool phase of the current World Cup. What effect that has will depend on how they prepare internally for their quarterfinal fixture. Truth be told, New Zealand's second-stringers could provide the 1st XV with more of a challenge in training than Georgia and Tonga will in the upcoming matches.

While the All Blacks can get out of their training sessions what they don't from their last two pool matches, they will be vulnerable heading into the quarterfinals. However, Ireland and France will be best prepared because they meet in their final pool fixture just before the play-offs commence - with the loser all but certain to be facing the All Blacks in the last eight.

Although Georgia will surely be beaten by a wide margin by New Zealand, the minnows have brought so much to this tournament and the gap has definitely closed. I would like to see World Rugby arrange more Tests for Tier Two nations against Tier One nations in between World Cups. If a Tier One team is playing a two or three Test series against another Tier One team, then they should play one or two midweek Tests against a Tier Two team. That will allow the Tier One team to give its second stringers some Test experience, while ensuring the Tier Two team becomes stronger through performance and the passing on of knowledge.

© John Mitchell

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