It wasn't always pretty, and sometimes downright frustrating, but the All Blacks are off to a three-win start to the season. The 29-19 victory over France in Hamilton on Saturday night was one that saw them behind until almost an hour into the game.
"We found a way to win and really good footy," said coach Scott Robertson post-match.
"Some really good stuff in it and we'll be better for it…some of it wasn't pretty and we understand that."
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson takes a selfie with fans. Photo: Brett Phibbs / www.photosport.nz
Robertson made 10 changes to his side that won comfortably in Wellington last weekend, so cohesion was going to be a little bit of a challenge, but that was before injuries to Rieko Ioane and Luke Jacobson forced late reshuffles.
However, one of the most pleasing aspects for Robertson will be the impact of his bench, that saw Jordie Barrett play a match-winning cameo and Brodie McAlister scoring the decisive try on debut.
"(McAlister)'s try was great…he got there, slid in nicely. Those are big moments, the whole front row we rolled early, they were superb. We had a couple of injuries…but the guys just battled on."
The All Blacks enjoyed an 88 percent possession advantage in the last 20 minutes, which is a match winning statistic in any test. That forced the French to make 170 more tackles overall, a staggering disparity.
Quinn Tupaea. Photo: Brett Phibbs / Photosport
The match had an eerily similar feel to the first test in Dunedin, in which France took an early lead and seemingly stayed in touch with the All Blacks on the scoreboard right till the end. However, the score doesn't reflect the utter dominance in territory and possession the All Blacks enjoyed for the final 15-20 minutes, by which time the French had really run out of ideas on attack.
'That takes character'
Captain Ardie Savea admitted the All Blacks had been "punched in the nose" in the first half.
"But we came back in the second, but like Razor said you have to credit the French defence, stopping tries on their line. That takes character, but I'm proud of our men too for doing their job, rolling their sleeves up and coming away with the win."
Savea, who was wearing a French tracksuit jacket for the press conference, praised their unfancied opposition for the effort.
"I think the French put us under a lot of pressure and we spilled the ball, gave them opportunities, gave them scraps. And that was through the pressure that they put on us, they just kept compounding their threes (penalty goals) and got out to a good lead. So that was a moment where we as leaders just took a big breath and used the tools that we have."
One thing the All Blacks had to adjust to before the ball had even been kicked off was a reshuffle in the loose forwards, with Jacobson pulling out with an injury sustained in the warmup.
"It's been one of those things, an innocuous events. Luke had just come out of a maul, he said his quad was gone. And we knew straight away there was going to be a change, and we really feel for him, it was a big night for him at home," said Robertson.
While it probably wasn't as convincing a set of scores that we'd been led to believe in the lead up to this series, that probably says more about France than the All Blacks. Twice in three games they had to overcome an early deficit and then control the tempo at the business end, which they undeniably did perfectly in Dunedin and Hamilton.
They now have almost a month before The Rugby Championship begins, when they face Argentina in two away tests. The All Black squad for the tournament is expected to be named on 4 August.
