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Hansen identifies what went wrong in Wellington

Hansen identifies what went wrong in Wellington

All BlacksAugust 13, 2024

'Finish' is the All Blacks' catchword as they look to turn around their game ahead of the second Lipovitan D Rugby Championship Test against Argentina at Eden Park on Saturday.

After their 30-38 loss in Wellington at the weekend, assistant coach Scott Hansen said the lesson from the defeat was in rugby, like life, not everything goes your way.

But rugby provided a chance to confirm and reset your quality control in the next play.

"Our challenge as a group is to finish. Skill sets, you finish. How we prepare this week will be around that."

Hansen said their review of the Test narrowed down the areas that cost them in Wellington.

"The quality of our skill sets, the execution of our roles, certain areas of the field and what that looks like, and also the ability of the components of our game – the synergy, our defence to our attack, our set piece and the synergy there."

They looked at where there were opportunities to improve, a process undertaken after all Tests.

"This is a performance that we need to correct around our intent and, basically, us as a team, making a stamp on the game."

It wasn't a process for the players alone. As a new coaching unit, the coaches had to examine whether they helped prepare individuals and how they helped set up the team to play.


Hansen said the coaches met regularly to review the game. This showed that once emotion from the loss was removed, the detail was in the facts. The All Blacks were caught in their half and lacked the efficiency to get out.

"Argentina were allowed to apply pressure on us, and we didn't respond well enough in that area of the field.

"The facts show when we applied pressure, we came away with points, but also our skill sets at times let us down with the execution. So that will be our focus."

The Argentine ability to pin the All Blacks in their 22m area from restarts was down to the structure of the All Blacks' game.

To counter that and get out of the corner on their terms, they looked at what they had done well in the past while also looking at how others had done it well. They have looked at that, and there needed to be an adjustment in Auckland.

Lessons aplenty came from the loss and would be applied across the season's remaining games.

An extra component was the bench's contribution, which was 'phenomenal' in the first three Tests.

"If you look at the moments on the weekend around how we can be better for the bench, also around allowing them to get into the game, we're happy with where we are with the squad. The roles that the boys did coming off the bench, we're happy with.

"However, there's opportunity for us to put them in a better stance. So, when they're coming on, we've got momentum for them. The group that's on the field needs to set up the impact from the bench."

The side needed to improve defensively. They were not too far off against Argentina's different form of attack.

"Where the [Argentina] tries came from was off the back of us not being set defensively. When we were able to set and find our shape, what we need to adjust to quicker is a transitional change, and that will be our challenge."

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