What a way to kick off Ireland's Autumn Nations Series.
A New Zealand side that appear on the cusp of a complete explosion in attack after last weekend’s victory at Twickenham roll in town and the latest chapter in this rivalry is ready to play out.
The All Blacks earned a hard-fought and gutsy win over England on Saturday, while in contrast, the Irish players were able to watch it all unfold from their training camp in Portugal.
Scott Roberston’s side are certainly more battle-hardened heading into Friday night’s eagerly anticipated clash, but how much of an advantage that is remains to be seen.
You’d imagine their preparation will focus on the gameplan and resting up in the early part of the week given the physical exertions from Twickenham.
The All Blacks are yet to show their full potential under Robertson. They’ve had summer international tests, as well as a full Rugby Championship where they lost twice to South Africa.
You can see that there’s a bit of an identity change, with more offloading, different set-piece set-ups and a varied exit strategy.
They're a team on the edge of a complete explosion into action and when it all clicks, someone is going to get a hiding from the expansive attacking threat that they pose.
Against England the kicking strategy was relatively straightforward.
Beauden Barrett dummied an exit several times before igniting an attack from his own 22. One of those was a dummy and pass to Jordie Barrett who broke out of his half.
However, the other was a dummy and pass to Will Jordan, who is usually so incisive.
The full-back doubted himself and stuttered his way beyond a Henry Slade tackle before offloading poorly and handing a scrum to England on the edge of the New Zealand 22.
That’s the part that feels like it still needs some cohesion. If and when it fully comes together, they’ll be a more fearsome attacking force.
England’s approach will also have given Ireland’s coaching team food for thought. Having won a scrum free-kick on Saturday, the hosts proceeded to kick the ball into the air from an attacking position.
Ireland simply won’t do that.
They’ll attack and throw the dice more than the English, where there was a strong sense of hit and hope. If New Zealand are unclear on their own attacking strategy, or if they’re unsure of their exiting tactics and turn the ball over, Andy Farrell’s side will ask a lot more questions of their defence than England did.
The New Zealand offloading game that Jordan’s mistake was a part of is one of the big differences with this current team.
They look like they’re willing to reignite a real spark in attack with live decision-making. There’s a bleeding process when getting used to this process and uncharacteristic errors are to be expected as they continue to develop a better understanding in attack.
One player that really shone bright last weekend, using his offloading skills for Mark Telea’s first try, was Wallace Sititi.
His ability to tidy up loose ball last weekend and use his footwork and pace to put New Zealand on the front foot will make the 22-year-old a danger for the Irish defence.
With only seven caps to his name, he may not be that well known to some Irish supporters, but the flanker has the ability to make his presence felt at the Aviva Stadium.
Ardie Savea arrives with the bigger reputation, but Sititi’s player of the match performance at Twickenham served notice that New Zealand’s conveyor belt of back rowers continues to produce.
How Ireland deal with New Zealand’s kicking game will be fascinating.
Beauden Barrett went off for a HIA, and therefore his availability is probably going to be determined behind the scenes this week. He pulled the strings early on with cross-field kicks in his own half. He had a well-executed chip in midfield, as well as long kicks that found space where England had no backfield cover.
Ireland’s defence can sometimes be vulnerable to the kicking game, and Barrett’s selection will challenge the men in green in that area. Even back rower Savea had a pre-planned chip kick last weekend, when possession was gathered back by Anton Lienert-Brown before knocking it on.
New Zealand are unafraid of throwing the dice and are bringing a lot of ingenuity into their game. Their set-piece strikes are repetitive because they’re merely a set-up play. However, from there you always feel like they’ve a trick up their sleeve.
In saying that, England’s defence made the New Zealand phase play look ordinary at times. The English personality-driven defensive system is tough to attack against. However, the visitors allowed them to hammer at an isolated forward-carrying pod which wasn’t supported by a back a lot of the time.
New Zealand either attacked with full intent and menace, or they used a basic forward pod to carry while setting something else up.
If they don’t blend some threat into the forward pod, the next planned strike won’t be as effective because the Irish defence will get a chance to dictate the attacking pace.
New Zealand always bring a sense of calm confidence to the game, as they did last week.
England went two scores up with 60 minutes played, and because it wasn’t a free-scoring game, you might have thought it was out of reach for Robertson’s group.
Momentum had gone England’s way, they disrupted New Zealand’s attack through the breakdown, and it didn’t look like the All Blacks would fight back after Barrett’s try was chalked off for a previous deliberate knock-on in a tackle.
However, Scott Barrett, Sam Cane and Patrick Tuipolotu led them around the pitch, and the ice cool figure of Damian McKenzie did the rest.
They have players that can break up a game. And when you have McKenzie and/or Barrett feeding those players the ball, as McKenzie did for Telea’s match winning try, the game is never dead.
While Cortez Ratima and Cam Hoigard are both very capable scrum-halves, this is the first time in a long time that the All Blacks don’t have huge experience at half-back. That could be an area for Ireland to exploit.
New Zealand’s defence seemed a touch unsure at times last weekend too. There were four penalties for tackles off the ball, something that they will need to address if they are to shut down the Irish attack.
England versus New Zealand was a top-level test match. A repeat spectacle and an Irish win is what the home supporters will be hoping for.
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