Defence and lightning attack key for All Blacks

TOBY ROBSON AT AVIVA STADIUM - Fairfax Media

Last updated 09:05 21/11/2010

Action from the match at Aviva Stadium.

All Blacks v Ireland

1 of 22

PETER MEECHAM/Fairfax Media Zoom 

Richie McCaw, Hikawera Elliot and Liam Messam perform the haka against Ireland.
Ireland provided a reminder that even the mightiest of All Blacks sides must earn the right to spread the ball at Aviva Stadium in Dublin this morning, before eventually falling victim 38-18 to the tourists' two most impressive traits.For half an hour the All Blacks ran themselves as ragged as their opponents with a lateral attack that laid its hope in Ireland missing tackles.The haka had an extra bite perhaps the result of more pithy and ignorant criticism in the Irish press on the eve of the match, or maybe tinted by thoughts of the men trapped under a West Coast coal mine.But desperate to provide some cheer to a nation in the financial doldrums, the home team were in no mood to fall off tackles as Scotland had a week prior.The longer the scores stayed close the more the Irish belief grew.There was leg drive and technical know-how from Richie McCaw and Kieran Read and had lock Tom Donnelly not passed so early it would have been 5-0 in the first minute.But there was nothing direct enough to keep defenders at the ruck. Perhaps it was why Ma'a Nonu was unusually ineffectual in the midfield before being subbed after the break for Sonny Bill Williams.And after tackling for 32 minutes Ireland took their chance to score the first try with Jamie Heaslip popping Stephen Ferris through a hole with a forward pass for a 13-9 lead.Dan Carter's boot knocked over the fourth of his seven successes of eight kicks at goal and lock Anthony Boric scored just before the break for a 19-13 lead.And then Ireland discovered what is making this All Blacks side great, desperate defence and an ability to score in bunches.McCaw's side protect their line like a loyal dog does its owner and Jerome Kaino again showed his value to the line.Ireland didn't unravel so much as blink and the game was gone as Sam Whitelock and Kieran Read scored tries within two minutes.Ferris and wing Luke Fitzgerald collided as Kaino surged down the right hand side to put his No 8 over and two minutes later yet another piece of silky skill from wing Cory Jane under the high ball launched a counter that ended with Whitelock's third test try, all against Ireland.Suddenly it was 33-13.Brian O'Driscoll sent a message he is no spent force and was probably Ireland's best on show, his running scoop earning a try with 23 minutes to play and a shred of hope.Jane was all class on the wing after two tests on the sidelines, a danger every time he touched the ball whether in contact or running in the open field.The much talked about Nonu-Conrad Smith midfield combination never really got going and Williams again looked confident in his 22 minute cameo.Read was superb in the pack, mixing tight work with open field link play and deservedly scored on full time to stretch the winning margin.And Carter, his injured ankle no longer an issue to his kicking, gave a master class before missing his final conversion and a chance to equal England's Jonny Wilkinson as the leading test points scorer.There will be plenty for the All Blacks to review before playing Wales and first and foremost they may look at tightening up their first half efforts.  Because as they will know tries come easier if they are earned up front first and international sides do not always roll over before kick off.All Blacks 38 (Kieran Read 2, Anthony Boric, Sam Whitelock tries; Daniel Carter 4 pen 3 con)Ireland 18 (Stephen Ferris, Brian O'Driscoll tries; Jonathan Sexton 2 pen con)Halftime: 19-13

All Blacks hammer Scotland

 

RICHARD KNOWLER IN EDINBURGH - Stuff

Last updated 07:04 14/11/2010

Highlights of the All Blacks' win over Scotland at Murrayfield.

All Blacks v Scotland

1 of 13

PETER MEECHAM/Fairfax Media Zoom

All Blacks perform the haka before the match against Scotland.

  More than a century of misery against the All Blacks continued for Scotland this morning after they were pounded 49-3 at Murrayfield.

Never did the New Zealanders' 105-year unbeaten streak look in doubt, with the tourists racing in seven tries against a Scottish side that was unable to match their precision, pace and, at times, sheer audacity on attack.
For skipper Richie McCaw and Mils Muliaina it was a fine way to mark their 92^nd test appearances, which saw them match Sean Fitzpatrick's milestone, and will certainly be broken within the next two weeks as the All Blacks prepare to complete another grand slam with matches against Ireland and Wales.
The best indicator as to just how much of an easy night this was for the All Blacks coaches' hearts was when they tugged openside flanker McCaw off the field with more than 20 minutes remaining, replacing him with Daniel Braid, to place him on ice as they looked ahead to Dublin and Cardiff.
For the Scots, who looked to still be searching for their combinations and rhythm after not playing together since June, this was just too big of an ask to expect them to create history.
Rarely did they look like scoring as the All Blacks defence proved impregnable and to darken their mood there was the worrying sight of Max Evans being wheeled off the field on a buggy after injuring his neck in a tackle on No 8 Kieran Read.
A pair of tries in the opening 12 minutes immediately had Scotland backpedalling, with Hosea Gear and Dan Carter racing over and seven minutes later Mils Muliaina added to their misery when he collected the third five-pointer.
Of the three, it was difficult not to be most impressed by Gear's effort; a pearler from a scrum inside the Scottish quarter, he hared off his left wing to pluck a juicy Sonny Bill Williams delivery out of mid-air and left the mesmerised defenders staring at each other with confused looks on their faces.
Gear had to work harder for the All Blacks' fourth try, although even he would have been surprised at the way the passive Scottish tacklers happily waved him through after he changed his angle and chopped infield unchallenged.
Four converted tries inside the first half hour and the match was over.
It was little wonder Scotland coach Andy Robinson was spotted out of his seat and leaning against a wall, looking as if he had just learned his superannuation fund had been plundered.
Granted, the All Blacks' dedication to eradicating the errors that had blotted their second half performance against England the previous weekend had paid dividends, but the Scotland defence was sadly lacking in desire.
From the opening whistle the New Zealanders signalled their attacking intent as they several times unleashed the ball towards Isaia Toeava's right wing in a bid to perforate the stretched Scotland defensive line.
One decent break by Toeava preceded a sweeping attack and it was Williams who gave him the vital space down a narrow channel near the touchline as he somehow flipped out a pass to the wing.
Prior to this match Williams expressed an eagerness to get more involved; having worn the No 13 jersey against England last weekend at Twickenham, the former rugby league star looked more comfortable at the familiar second five-eighth operating inside centre Conrad Smith.
The 25-year-old wowed the 56,807-strong crowd with his sheer audacity as he repeatedly untangled his long arms, and with hands the size of buckets, squeezed the ball out to his support runners.
Muliaina was another benefactor of the Williams magic as he crossed over for the penultimate try and Smith could also give the big nod of approval after he was involved in the movement that led to his five-pointer too.
All Blacks 49 (Hosea Gear 2, Mils Muliaina 2, Dan Carter, Conrad Smith, Andy Ellis tries; Carter 5 conv, Stephen Donald 2 conv)
Scotland 3 (Dan Parks pen).
Halftime: 28-3.

Rugby: Rampant All Blacks thrash Scotland

Sun, 14 Nov 2010

Click photo to enlarge

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw, left, battles his way past Scotland's Dan Parks. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

Murrayfield plunged into darkness to commemorate Armistice Day, and when illuminated it was Scotland who surrendered as the All Blacks sauntered to a 49-3 victory, keeping their Grand Slam quest alive. Any ambitions of Scotland's rugby renaissance continuing with a historic success against New Zealand following 105 years of defeat were soon revised to damage limitation as the All Blacks hushed an expectant crowd of 56,807 with a clinical first half display that yielded four tries.
The tone was set as the first strain of a lone piper's "Scotland the Brave" reverberated, only to be silenced by a classical Sonny Bill Williams offload to Hosea Gear in ninth minute.
Williams, in his second test and first alongside centre Conrad Smith, scythed through the Scottish line with ominous ease before the alert Gear collected a one-handed flick to cross between the posts for the first of his double.
Three minutes later Dan Carter completed a 60-metre catch and pass exercise that had the Scots literally grasping at shadows.
Mils Muliaina probed the right hand flank, fed Isaia Toeava who freed Carter to coast to the line unimpeded.
The All Blacks first five-eighth might have had a second inside the opening quarter but unselfishly passed to Muliaina to mark his record-equalling 92nd test in style.
Captain Richie McCaw, who also joined illustrious predecessor Sean Fitzpatrick on 92 caps, was unable to score but was still typically effective at the breakdown -- another area where the All Blacks exerted superiority.
Gear, among the All Blacks' best during the 26-16 triumph at Twickenham last weekend, then compounded Scotland's woes after they botched a close range lineout -- a rare attacking opportunity from a penalty in the 25th minute.
Barely two minutes later, after the All Blacks had turned over possession, quick hands from Williams and Smith put Gear in enough space to flummox three defenders before he cruised over for his second -- to provide the All Blacks with an insurmountable 28-3 advantage at the break.
After Dan Parks capped Scotland's rousing, though brief, beginning with a penalty in the third minute, it was to be a night of minor victories for the hosts.
Although the scoreline from their last three encounters against New Zealand now amounts to a distressing 121-9 margin in the All Blacks' favour, Scotland at least avoided the ignominy of expunging the 49-point thrashing inflicted at Carisbrook a decade ago from the record books.
All Black head coach Graham Henry's predictable decision to empty his bench -- looking ahead to Ireland in Dublin -- with a quarter remaining also assisted Scotland's desperation to avoid a record-breaking rout.
Carter was the first to depart in the 50th minute with the All Blacks up 35-3 to facilitate Stephen Donald's public rehabilitation process after his distressing cameo in the tour-opening Hong Kong Bledisloe Cup loss to the Wallabies.
Donald had one grim moment when kicking a penalty dead -- a rare All Blacks indiscretion to enthuse a home crowd dumbfounded at the abrupt end to Scotland's four-match unbeaten run.
There was also a dominant scrum in the 54th minute which buckled the All Blacks formation, though in keeping with Scotland's inability to profit from the rare opportunities they received, possession was lost at the next engagement.
McCaw earned his rest in the 57th minute so Daniel Braid finally logged his first minutes on tour while Andrew Hore made a safe return from shoulder surgery when he was introduced for solid debutant Hika Elliot with 19 minutes remaining.
Despite the changes, the All Blacks still managed three more tries in the second half -- another Williams offload put Muliaina in the corner for his second and probably sealed the rookie's man of the match award.
He was also prominent with ball in hand before Smith crossed in the 67th minute and then Donald has a positive impact when his break gave reserve halfback Andy Ellis a stroll to the posts with two minutes remaining.
The All Blacks head to Dublin tomorrow; there in no respite for the Scots -- world champions South Africa loom next weekend.
New Zealand 49 (Hosea Gear 2, Mils Muliaina 2, Dan Carter, Conrad Smith, Andy Ellis tries; Carter 5 conversions, Stephen Donald 2 conversions), Scotland 3 (Dan Parks penalty), HT: 28-3.

Rugby: Untouchable SBW hard to handle

Sun, 14 Nov 2010

Graham Henry and his coaching cohorts now share a dilemma with their counterparts for the remainder of the All Blacks Grand Slam rugby tour - devising a strategy to handle Sonny Bill Williams.
Those three names - and the phrase "offload" - were practically on everyone's lips in the aftermath of New Zealand's 49-3 swamping of the Scots at Murrayfield last night, an All Black master class that suggested Williams could eventually exert a Jonah Lomu-esque influence on the international game.
Just two games into his test career, the 25-year-old already has opposing coaches reaching for the superlatives when pondering his future impact on the code.
After witnessing man-of-the-match Williams orchestrate two of the All Blacks seven converted with audacious offloads that already seem routine, Scotland head coach Andy Robinson sounded in awe of the new midfield maestro.
"He's got everything, hasn't he? He's fantastic for the sport of rugby union, just not for a defensive coach or an opponent trying to mark him," Robinson said.
Williams made his test debut at Twickenham last weekend and soon made a favourable impression for a one-handed release in the build-up to Hosea Gear's maiden test try.
Nine minutes into what Scotland forlornly hoped would prove a continuation of their resurgence after a historic series win in Argentina five months ago, Gear was grateful to Williams again when he powered through the defensive line and flicked a no-look pass the wing was wise to anticipate.
Record-equalling fullback Mils Muliaina also profited from Williams' sleight of hand in the 48th minute. 
While Williams' other sly moves to keep the ball alive did not lead directly to tries, conventional passing assisted Gear's second while his running lines from second five-eighth frequently had the Scots standoffish in defence.
Scotland, and to a lesser extent England, had no answer to Williams's innate ability to pierce an opposing backline and, when halted, release the ball for an alert support player.
The question now for Henry and backs coach Wayne Smith is how to utilise Williams against Ireland and Wales.
Do they prolong his assimilation process in Dublin next weekend? Or do they revert to the Ma'a Nonu-Conrad Smith combination that would have been considered unbreakable until Williams signalled his World Cup ambitions by returning home from France in June.
Nonu and Smith, united for 26 tests since 2008, have been pivotal in nurturing Williams since his selection and in doing so appear to have inadvertently jeopardised their own careers.
Smith sat out the England test to indulge Williams' rare outing at centre; at Murrayfield Nonu was the only All Blacks reserve not needed as Scotland's demoralising 105-year wait to beat New Zealand featured another grim interlude.
Henry was noncommittal about his future plans for the All Blacks highest profile acquisition from rugby league but mirrored Robinson's enthusiasm for Williams' performance.
"He'll obviously be pretty pleased with the way he's playing," Henry dead panned.
"He's got an amazing ability to offload the ball in the tackle, I don't think I've seen any rugby player with that sort of skill in that situation before," he said, before predicting even greater heights for the 1.91-metre ball player.
"He's still getting comfortable playing at this level and with what we're trying to do.
"I still think there's a wee way to go there but I think he'll get more confident and even go to a higher standard in the future."
Captain Richie McCaw was also impressed with Williams' arrival to the All Black environment via Toulon and Canterbury.
"It's exciting to have a guy like that, he's a real threat and it's not always him just crashing the ball up, he can put guys away outside too."
Muliaina admitted Williams was unique in terms of backs he had shared his 92 test caps with - an All Black record he jointly holds with McCaw and Sean Fitzpatrick.
"Just watching it (offloads) on TV when he doing it in league, you wondered if he could transfer that into rugby," Muliaina said.
"He must have practised it a lot because he can certainly pull it off. A few times at training you think he's gone to deck and suddenly the ball pops out of nowhere."

All Blacks switch four for Scotland clash | Rugby | Fox Sports

All Blacks ring the changes for clash with Scotland as Richie McCaw, Mils Muliaina eye milestones

• From correspondents in Edinburgh, Scotland
• From AFP
• November 11, 2010 8:27PM

Milestone ... Richie McCaw will celebrate his record-equalling 92nd cap this weekend. Source: David Rogers / Getty Images

New Zealand have made four changes to the side that beat England last weekend for this weekend's Test against Scotland at Murrayfield.

All Blacks team

Mils Muliaina, Isaia Toeava, Conrad Smith, Sonny Bill Williams, Hosea Gear, Dan Carter, Jimmy Cowan, Kieran Read, Richie McCaw (capt), Liam Messam, Samuel Whitelock, Brad Thorn, Owen Franks, Keven Mealamu/Hikawera Elliot, Tony Woodcock. Replacements: Andrew Hore, John Afoa, Anthony Boric, Daniel Braid, Andy Ellis, Stephen Donald, Ma'a Nonu.

Jimmy Cowan returns at halfback while Conrad Smith will line up at centre alongside Sonny Bill Williams with Ma'a Nonu moving to the bench.
Isaia Toeva comes onto the right wing in place of Joe Rokocoko.
The only change in the forwards sees Liam Messam get a go at blindside flanker, although All Blacks coach Graham Henry could be forced into a fifth change if hooker Keven Mealamu loses an appeal against his ban for headbutting England's Lewis Moody.
Uncapped Hika Elliot has been named as Mealamu's replacement if he misses out.
"This is another challenging Test for the All Blacks and our selection reflects that," Henry said.
"We have huge respect for the Scots and the way they are playing the game.
"They have had some major victories in recent times, including two away wins in Argentina and a win over Ireland this year plus the win over Australia last year, so it should be another absorbing contest between the two teams."
The match represents a significant milestone in All Blacks history.
Skipper Richie McCaw and full-back Mils Muliaina will both win their 92nd caps, equalling Sean Fitzpatrick's All Blacks record, and are likely to break the former All Blacks hooker's mark later in the tour.
"I couldn't think of two better people than Richie and Mils to beat my record," Fitzpatrick said.
"They are outstanding All Blacks, good leaders of men and for me it's an honour to pass the baton on to those two."
All Blacks coach Henry also paid tribute to McCaw and Muliaina's record-equalling double act.
"It is a fantastic achievement for both men and it's great that they are able to reach the milestone together this weekend in Scotland," he said.
"They are icons of the game, have huge respect within the All Blacks, in New Zealand and around the world, and will have many more Tests together in the All Blacks jersey."

All Blacks squeak past England

RICHARD KNOWLER AT TWICKENHAM - Fairfax Media

Last updated 05:40 07/11/2010

Maybe Mike Ford will keep his clam shut the next time he sees the All Blacks riding over the horizon.

Having beaten England 26-16 in London this morning, the New Zealanders gave Ford a couple of reasons to reconsider why test rugby does have the right to be entertaining.

In the build-up to this match England defensive coach Ford let his mouth start gabbling before his brain had any chance to register what he was on about, as he stated the international stage was all about defensive resolve rather than piling on a mountain of points on the scoreboard.

Ironically, England did their share of attacking as they looked to spread the ball wide from the get-go and then dominated the final quarter; they threw wave after wave of offensive movements at the All Blacks, whose scrambling defence was forced to call on all their experience and trust in each other to deny their opponents a win.

All three tries were scored by New Zealanders, with left wing Hosea Gear and No 8 Kieran Read crossing over for the All Blacks in the first half and Kiwi ex-pat replacement hooker Dylan Hartley barging over for England in the second spell.

A rough diamond, no doubt, Hartley - who has form with the judiciary for such nasty acts as eye-gouging and has spent his time with sports shrinks trying to discover ways to dampen his fiery temper - could not resist unleashing a cheap shot at Richie McCaw in the second half when he aimed at his head with his shoulder.

That incident caused an angered Brad Thorn to knock the rake off his feet with a shoulder shove and then things got testy; handbags were swung and teeth were bared.

Maybe the judiciary will have more to say about Hartley's actions, but the television match official, Guilio de Santis, was not so bothered by him scoring his five-pointer with what appeared suspiciously to be a double-movement.

If All Blacks fans thought their side's conditioning would allow them to run amok in the final quarter they were to be disappointed.

Instead it was the Poms that did all the talk with the ball in hand and when Jerome Kaino was shown a yellow card inside the final 10 minutes they just kept on coming and several times replacement wing Isaia Toeava was forced to pull off some desperate tackles.

Toeava's effort on a flying Shontayne Hape - another Kiwi no less - could have been a potential match-saver.

Leading 26-16, the desperate All Blacks were fiercely defending their line when former Kiwis rugby league international Hape appeared to have found space down the touch to score.

However, Toeava managed to charge into him and the TMO was forced to admit Hape had knocked the ball on over the line.

As they look back on this result, the All Blacks, over a few quiet, reflective beers post-match, may have admitted they got too slack after leading 17-3 at halftime.

Indeed, it appeared as if the win would come easily when they habitually found wide open spaces in the English defensive line and it was a classic offload by debutant Sonny Bill Williams, followed by a lobbed pass from Mils Muliaina that saw Gear score.