New Zealand - State of the Nation
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After France’s disappointing performance against Ireland on Sunday – despite Ireland losing key players to injury during the game – New Zealand must be strong favourites to win their quarter-final clash in Cardiff on Saturday.
The All Blacks may not be close to firing on all cylinders yet, but they’ve cruised through their pool games without being troubled unduly and their second half demolition of Tonga in their final pool match gave an indication of where they’re headed.
Tony Woodcock
An All Black since 2002 (at age 21), with 118 Test caps, and turning 35 in
January, Woodcock’s injury brings an unhappy end to a wonderful Test career –
unhappy because it brings a premature conclusion to his last World Cup, where
his goal was to have ended with a victory at Twickenham on 31 October. There is
now much pressure on back-up loosehead Wyatt Crockett to scrummage strongly and
legally in the play-off games.
Carter on France
Dan Carter – happily showing signs of a return to his sublime best – speaks of
France as capable of “being poor one week and awesome the next” but he sums up
the issue neatly when he says: “It’s about us turning up.”
Aaron Smith, Ben
Smith
With quality cover in case of injury on either wing, at 12 and 13, and even
flyhalf/first-five, the two backline positions where New Zealand cannot afford
injuries are at 9, where Aaron Smith is a vital cog in the All Black machine
(well ahead of TJ Perenara and Tawera Kerr-Barlow as a halfback) and at
fullback, with Ben Smith’s skills not always getting due recognition. Were he
to be injured, Beauden Barrett could fill in but he is a 10 rather than a 15,
and Milner-Skudder’s defence at 15 is an issue.
Dane Coles,
Brodie Retallick
Up front, the two players the All Blacks can least afford to lose to injury are
hooker Dane Coles (with Keven Mealamu years past his best and Codie Taylor a
rookie) and lock Brodie Retallick, with Luke Romano no more than adequate as a
back-up and no fourth lock in the squad.
How will the All
Blacks exert pressure?
The All Blacks pride themselves on their ability to vary their game, and one of
the fascinating aspects of the quarter-finals will be to see to what extent
they contest at breakdown, or whether they will use defensive linespeed and
denying time and space primarily to counter France’s attacking game. In
contrast to Australia’s use of David Pocock and Michael Hooper as a lethal duo
attempting to dominate the breakdown, New Zealand have not focussed on the
breakdown in their pool games. Kicking more and attacking less with ball in
hand may be features of the All Black game on Saturday too.