In another below-par performance this morning at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in front of a packed crowd, the underdog Georgia Rugby team stood up and charged at the bigger side as the underwhelming All Blacks were pushed hard by gallant Georgia.
You have to take your hat off to this Georgian Rugby team, who in fact had some key men removed through player rotation, but they did themselves and their rugby nation proud against a Tier One nation. World Champions in fact, even though the All Blacks had moments of pure ‘magic’ mixed along with much fumbling, mis-directed rugby that will have their coaching staff examining the result closely.
The final score blew out to 43-10, but that glossed over a period before halftime and then through the second half where the outstanding commitment from the so-called, rugby ‘minnows’ gave this higher ranked team a good hurry up. They kicked the ball towards this attacking side and then absorbed whatever could be thrown at them. An interesting strategy, but they met that challenge with a gutsy display.
In scoring seven tries, New Zealand did outscore the Georgian team obviously, but that didn’t stop the gallant Georgian team crossing for their own opportunistic try and they also collected the Man of the Match gong for tireless flanker Mamuka Gorgodze. When the stadium announced that decision, it brought a worthy round of applause and the humble man [who had been subbed] was surprised to take the publicly nominated award.
He should not have, because before he gained an injury, he was phenomenal in a way that his opposite has been for so long. Big and powerful, he reflected the heart and soul of this team and they will all be pleased that the ‘big man’ was recognized for another massive effort during this World Cup tournament. On the other side of the pack, Jerome Kaino was all thumbs, off his game clearly and not nearly the same beast that he was at the last World Cup.
Incredible effort from the Georgian scrum and outside backs. While at times combative, they did get penalised often for being caught in the ruck, but the tackling was good, as too was collecting the high ball and outflanking the All Blacks wingers, with Conrad Smith subdued and Ben Smith unable to get the freedom they usually create. Many times players ran into each other, cut-back lines were closed down or the ball dropped clean.
Adjectives will be used to describe the overall New Zealand performance: disjointed, uncharacteristic and lethargic, but you must give the Georgian team a big thumbs up for a collective effort. They put men all over the park, and even as the World Champions had amassed 22 quick points to gain a bonus point in the opening quarter, the team dug deep and put a stop to any massive scoreline blowout.
Richie McCaw’s men were confronted with blocking defence, great covering tackles and can only blame themselves for leaving numerous scoring opportunities out on the park; in dropped ball, with little pop-passes mostly not coming off. Was that a tactic? If it was, it did not work and by the 70th minute when injuries and substitutions impacted on the game, they finally began to hold the ball and then broke open the skilled defencive line with two late tries.
Julian Savea scored three of those tries, which increases his terrific strike-rate in test matches, and the returning Waisake Naholo opened the scoring inside 90 seconds with his first touch of the ball. Those were highlights, but will be missed when you look over the whole match – it will be an interesting video session at Team All Blacks HQ back in London on Monday.
To walk away with the win, many of these All Blacks must acknowledge another below-par effort, Sonny Bill Williams could not free his arms as easily as he has done, but the visitors can leave with heads held high. Their lap of honour post-game was worthy of a commendable effort and they each were responsible for making this a challenging game.
The All Blacks must be concerned once again with their lack of continuity. Much to work on before the Tonga match, and if this is a lesson learned from the coaching staff (again) then they will only have one more chance to go back, re-write the gameplan and to come out next week with an improved 80 minutes. Improve now, before the likely Quarter Final or the tournament might be another sides to determine.
If they do not show their true form, then the competition will gain in confidence. Something this All Blacks team are just not showing at this point in time.
“Main photo”
