I’ve been on the pitch when the All Blacks flick that switch. You are staying in the fight, and still they find a way to break you open.
South Africa put enormous pressure on New Zealand for 20 minutes, but they resisted as only great defences can, and then Japan 2019 came to life: Bang! Bang! Two tries in three minutes, etch the victory into the ledger.
Beauden Barrett lit up the World Cup as only he can. He was not alone. How did it happen? Aaron Smith sent a traditional box kick up high. Duane Vermeulen couldn't hold it (see the aerial challenge by George Bridge – a Schmidt player if ever I've seen one) and New Zealand attacked.
This “old school” battle was doused in magic as Richie Mo’unga chipped all of 10 metres to Sevu Reece. Ryan Crotty filled in at scrumhalf. The ball got to Barrett and his speed ripped the tiniest hole between a lock and a tighthead prop. The offload turned Bridge into a new All Black sensation. The jump contest with Vermeulen is what got him in the black gear.
What happened next?
Almost a carbon copy. Smith sent a traditional box kick up high. Handrè Pollard couldn’t hold it (Kieran Read brought the heat, Sam Cane was sharp to the ball). Barrett touched, ran and distributed four times before Anton Lienert-Brown cut loose and put the youngest and biggest Barrett brother out the gap.
It makes you wonder what is happening to the sport. Is Johnny Sexton the last of the traditional outhalves? Look at Mo’unga, a pure athlete, tracking down Cheslin Kolbe with the Test match in the balance. See the rising prominence of creative scrumhalves such as Conor Murray, Antoine Dupont, Faf de Klerk and, of course, Smith.
Increasingly, these men are the anchor successful packs depend upon to get down field. Not the 10.
Tears up the script
The game is changing, as it always does at World Cups. We think it’s one way and then someone tears up the script. Jonah in 1995. The French in 1999. Maybe the traditional “cup rugby” methods will not prevail anymore. Clearly, New Zealand don’t need Dan Carter’s drop goals to win three in a row.
Don’t be fooled. The game has not changed, it just got more fierce.
Maybe we’ll have to split New Zealand into two islands to deny them the drive for five.
Barrett at outhalf (actually, he went there whenever he felt like last Saturday) or Jonathan Joseph punishing tiring defenders around the ruck are strong examples of how to shut down an opponent clinging on for dear life.
New Zealand are, all of a sudden, ahead of the curve again. Godammit.
We thought there was a gap in the market. They came up against the form team on the planet, the traditional uncompromising Springboks, and found a way to outwit them. It was stunning, off-the-cuff, stone-cold, skill-based winning rugby.
You are almost praying that we get to see Johnny and Joey operate in tandem sooner rather than later
Polland kicks his goals and launches garryowens high up into the floodlights. Mo’unga and Barrett survey the field and wait, they just wait, before erupting with some of the most stunning rugby you will ever see. We have always known this but it is going to take a 40-, 50-point performance to beat them in the semi-final or final.
Or the rains will come.
Maybe Sexton has enough of the hybrid "first-five" in him, how he always attacks the line, to bring Ireland where they need to go. If not, Joey Carbery can be the X-factor all teams crave now we have seen the All Blacks in full flow.
No longer an option
You are almost praying that we get to see Johnny and Joey operate in tandem sooner rather than later. Shutting up shop is no longer an option. It’s made for Carbery. That’s how the Springboks can be felled: with some magic dust.
Jack Carty needs shifting. Fair play to him. Every chance that has come his way he has stood tall and declared: I am a Test-standard outhalf. That’s where we are at. Ireland are in a good place.
What else is going on? Plenty.
Fiji have been badly let down. The officials fluffed their lines in the Hodge tackle on Peceli Yato
What the referees and television match officials are seeing and therefore doing is no longer apparent. I am sitting in Eir’s studio with Tommy Bowe, Peter Stringer and Jerry Flannery – we all played a bit – but we didn’t understand how they were arriving at certain decisions.
Pre-tournament Alain Rolland – World Rugby's head of referees – stated at an official press conference how the high tackle law would be enforced at this World Cup. Rolland was succinct and clear. The refereeing has been inconsistent and poor.
Whatever happens to Reece Hodge, it’s too late for Fiji now. What a chance they had to shock the World Cup to its core after their free-wheeling start against Australia. It was everything other teams with Fijians on their wings are capable of doing. They have been badly let down. The officials fluffed their lines in the Hodge tackle on Peceli Yato. It needed to be 14 Wallabies against 15 Fijians. The game suffers as a result.
Having a shocker
And another gripe. The broadcast director of replays – be it foul play or key moments – is having a shocker. In the studio we have to work off what is being fed back. It is not good enough. It hampers our ability to analyse the game. The public are being kept in the dark.
The TMO can watch and rewind everything. That is a positive, right?
Socks up lads. I saw the press release admitting to communication problems. Not good enough. Not now.
There’s more. From our perch back in Dublin, the offside line is being ignored. Again, it is costing nations who should be up among the best, but Argentina will struggle to reach the last eight following defeat to France. Louis Picamoles ruined my dark horse’s chance to top the pool. His interception was miles offside. That’s a penalty and banker three points in a two-point game. Argentina should have won. I understand why Mario Ledesma was spitting fire afterwards. They felt robbed.
In studio after Scotland were filleted on Sunday morning it was like a pressure valve being released. That was us. Imagine what the changing-room felt like. Not relief but validation of hard work and the character everyone showed. These performances are rare. So many concerns were alleviated. Rory Best deserves enormous credit for his 80 minutes [even if it was only because the other hookers are not fit]. I thought Murray was outstanding.
We can work with an opening performance like that. Still, now everyone has settled into Japan 2019 and looking across the entire weekend it has to be noted just how bad Scotland were. Everyone else showed up.
Ruthlessly targeted
Not Gregor Townsend’s men. Stuart Hogg – who was ruthlessly targeted and shut down by Jacob Stockdale among others – won’t be talking about winning the World Cup ever again. You can talk about winning every game you play. But the whole show? Silly. Even from a player of his calibre.
They got their vibe badly wrong, clearly. Samoa next. They should recover but you never know. They are losing key players and look totally devoid of form. Scotland tried to run the same play off a scrum that England scored against Ireland at Twickenham. Did you think Andy Farrell didn’t savage the Irish boys in the video room? Ireland dealt with this move because they were hoping it would happen again, and they got a better nudge in the scrum.
Chris Farrell and Garry Ringrose just became the Ireland midfield, I suspect. No slight on Bundee Aki but Farrell has the best passing game of all the Ireland centres. He is unorthodox but highly effective. Now, all the centres have attributes that would make you trust them in Test rugby. Bundee is a good decision-maker. His physicality is underrated.
I like the idea of Aki and Farrell finishing the Japan game with Garry Ringrose put on ice.
So, rugby’s global advertisement is up and running.
France and New Zealand have set the template for how to shine over the coming weeks; run into space. Kick horizontal and true when no space appears. The alternative is the second pass out the back. It’s clear from Dupont’s try why France have gone with Romain Ntamack at 10 – he drops really deep – and Maxime Medard at fullback.
Killer passes
The killer passes thrown by both men beat the high winger. That’s how team are defending so the space is always in behind or by beating the man with slick distribution.
Ireland can do this. They must do this.
Schmidt has spent four years building a squad he can trust. That’s why he is content to let Robbie Henshaw and others recover. He trusts his players. Keith Earls, Rob Kearney and Carbery were not 100 per cent so Joe put faith in Jordan Lamour and Andrew Conway.
This has been happening for 10 years. Schmidt backs a player, the player pays him back by reaching standards he didn’t know were in him. I am an example. He once told me a young centre was starting ahead of me. “Why?”, I asked. You are at about 80 per cent Darce but this guy is at 100 per cent and his 100 per cent is better than your 80 per cent.
It lit a fire in me.
Carty’s performance off the bench puts genuine pressure – positive pressure – on Carbery. If you are better prove it against Japan.
There’s almost a month now to plan for South Africa and the three heavyweight attacking pods they will use to bludgeon Ireland. They have one match to win on Saturday and two against Russia and Samoa to test out a few ideas. Show the Springboks some pictures to muddy the water. Stick or twist, Rassie.
