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New Zealand’s weakness against England’s blitz defense puts 30-year Eden Park streak in jeopardy

New Zealand’s weakness against England’s blitz defense puts 30-year Eden Park streak in jeopardy

England's Marcus Smith, left, looks to tackle New Zealand's Stephen Perofeta during their rugby union test match in Dunedin, New Zealand, Saturday July 6, 2024. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)
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England’s Marcus Smith, left, looks to tackle New Zealand’s Stephen Perofeta during their rugby union test match in Dunedin, New Zealand, Saturday July 6, 2024. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)
By  STEVE McMORRAN
Updated 1:04 AM UTC, July 12, 2024
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand will have to confront and overcome its bête noire — the rush defense — when it faces England in the second test on Saturday if it is to continue its 30-year unbeaten streak at Eden Park.

The All Blacks’ inability to counter the rush, or blitz defense, has been a long-standing problem which reared its head again in the first test last weekend when England largely contained the New Zealand attack.

New Zealand scored two tries in the first half and both individually highlighted measures which can be successful in countering the blitz. The first came from a kick pass and the second when a first tackle was missed.

But New Zealand couldn’t score a try in the second half and relied on two penalty goals to edge England 16-15 at Dunedin on New Zealand’s South Island.

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Coping with the pressure

A series of All Blacks playmakers have tried and failed to unpick the rush defense which teams increasingly have used against New Zealand as its vulnerability became more obvious.

Beauden Barrett tried the cut-out pass and chip kick behind the defense but both measures were predictable and easily countered. Richie Mo’unga, who was so effective in space, became flustered and kicked poorly when pressured.

Damian McKenzie, who has now taken over the No. 10 jersey, was smothered by the defense in the first test and will be central to the All Blacks’ effort to overcome it in the second.

At stake is the All Black’s lengthy winning streak at Eden Park in Auckland, where the last team to beat them was France — 23-20 in July 1994.

England: more of the blitz

England noted the success of the blitz in the first test and plans to use it again on Saturday, according to defense coach Felix Jones. The key for the England defense is to be even more hermetic than it was in the first test. It can’t afford to miss tackles such as the one Ben Earl missed on Stephen Perofeta which led to the All Blacks’ second try.

“Any time you play against New Zealand you have to be right at your upper levels — tactically, execution-wise, physically and intensity — to be in the mix with it,” Jones said. “They have a skill set that is on the top of the world.

“I’m talking handling, footwork and their identification of space. Their physical abilities, intensity and desperation to win is right at the upper level as well. That makes them very difficult.”

Looking for openings

The All Blacks also will have learned from the first test and realize they first have to create some risk for England. The England defense in Dunedin rushed up and in. Often the wingers came off their stations to add numbers in the center and that means there is space out wide if the All Blacks can find it.

At the same time, forwards have to go forward and commit defenders. The All Blacks will rely on individuals’ ability to spot opportunities, to take an extra step in a tackle, to pinpoint mismatches and offload.

The goal of the defense is to shut down space, the goal of the attack to create it.

“It’s exactly what the aim of it is, isn’t it?” New Zealand attack coach Jason Holland said. “They can put pressure on time and space and skills.”

“If you get things wrong, if you haven’t got your little things around your skills right or your depth right then you can get really hurt. But we’ve got a couple of ideas around how we make sure that it’s hard to bring line speed, as in you have to go backwards to come forward.”

Also improve on what his team did in the first test.

“We’ve got to get balance with what to do, we can’t be predictable,” adds Holland. “We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got a little bit of that in our game, maybe a little bit more than what we had down in Dunedin.”

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby