In the first game of the World Cup, the All Blacks got in trouble because they kept losing the ball and giving away penalties when their player with the ball was all alone, and the other team took it away from them.
The French team showed a great defensive plan and won because their strong players knew how to take the ball away from the All Blacks by getting in the right positions.
The All Blacks learned that they must be cautious when using the entire field during the tournament. Les Bleus made it seem easy at the end, like they had a smart plan to upset and beat the All Blacks. In the first half, France kicked the ball away a lot. They did not seem to want it, and Antoine Dupont kicked it far, letting the All Blacks decide what to do with it.
And what the All Blacks wanted to do was kick it back. And that’s what they did. Time and time again, the first 40 minutes were strangely subdued, with Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga seemingly determined not to fight back under any circumstances.
In the second half, France successfully forced the All Blacks into several mistakes, putting pressure on the scoreboard and forcing New Zealand to play catch-up rugby.
When the New Zealanders go into this mode and try to play wider, they are an easy target for turnovers for the French, with All Blacks manager Ian Foster saying, “They’re isolated against the French…They don’t give the ball away.” He’s very good at attacking,” he lamented.
The solution for the All Blacks appears to be to abandon their preferred ball-in-hand game and, like the other major teams at this World Cup, be conservative and keep kicking the ball.
This clearly worked for France, Ireland, South Africa, and England, with stats from the first two rounds of the tournament showing they averaged 56 shots per game, the most since the 1996 World Cup.
England’s entire game plan was based on putting the ball away, and attacking coach Richard Wrigglesworth said after their 34–12 win over Japan that they were “not happy with our attacking position.”
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It is Never in New Zealand’s DNA to Spend 80 Minutes Kicking The Ball Away
“But it has nothing to do with the kicking game, and it’s not separate from it. It’s all part of the same fabric. You want to shoot the ball brilliantly, so either you take it back brilliantly, or you take the shot and score.” Either you do it.
“It’s definitely better to fight for position than lose the ball. What we’ve seen so far in this World Cup is that the most successful teams have had very skilled and efficient kicking games. We are working to make sure we are in the best position possible. ”
But spending 80 minutes kicking the ball is not in New Zealand’s DNA. They want effective kicking strategies and, despite appearances, have always been one of the most prolific kicking teams in world football.
But they will never play like England. There’s always a balance in their game because they have too many natural ball runners and talented athletes on their team and don’t want to put the ball in their hands and run it defensively.
Therefore, the key for New Zealand to be more effective at this World Cup is not to stick to the same kick-heavy strategy as other teams but rather to double down on their running game and become one of the few teams in this World Cup. Anyone who does this is happier playing with the ball than without it.
In practice, this means you have to develop a counter-attack strategy and be ready to give it back when the ball is handed to you.
