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How the All Blacks broke Argentina open with Jordie Barrett
By Ben Smith
The All Blacks have been searching for a No 12 who can deliver the direct game plan reserved for the likes of Argentina, South Africa and France for some time now.
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In Mendoza Jordie Barrett played his fourth Test at second five-eighth and his first against one of those physical opponents in the midfield.
He produced a stoic performance, charging into the Pumas’ defence with no regard for safety, offering Foster and the coaches assurance he can be the lynchpin to deliver a direct game plan.
It has been called the ‘Javelin’ attack, and many All Black 12s have run the same set of plays before him; Ryan Crotty, Sonny Bill Williams, Anton Lienert-Brown, Jack Goodhue, David Havili.
It has been a staple of former head coach Steve Hansen and Ian Foster’s playbook for a number of years.
There are a couple of variations of the same play, one is a pass direct off the halfback to the No 12 and the other is one pass wider from the No 10 to vary the point of attack.
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Each variation of the play is centred around the No 12 running a hard line into the defence and taking the role of the primary playmaker.
The outside centre angles in as a short option outside 12, with the No 10 and blindside winger floating around the edge to overload the far side.
The 12 has multiple options at their disposal and is tasked with making the read based on what the defence gives.
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It’s a common launch play across professional rugby, but a specific type of 12 is required to get the most out of it.
The 6’5 Barrett combined with the 6’2 Ioane offers plenty of size for the opposition to consider, and against Argentina the All Blacks found the most success they’ve had with the set of plays since Sonny Bill Williams.
Throughout the first half Barrett kept things simple, he used Ioane on the short ball once and ran the crash line on every other occasion.
The Pumas’ line speed was faster early in the game and Barrett’s carries kept them honest.
The All Blacks rolled out the heavy artillery to confront Argentina after Barrett’s carry, using the likes of Shannon Frizell, Ardie Savea, and Scott Barrett coming around the corner on the phases thereafter to break down the blue and white wall. Savea bagged a try close to the line following one of these sequences.
Barrett had limited time to play any of his pass options due to the line speed, but the opportunity was developing.
The Pumas’ new midfield pair Lucio Cinti (12) and Matias Moroni (13) were not well versed with each other.
While Moroni is experienced, Cinti played on the wing last year in New Zealand and has 12 caps.
Sebastian Cancelliere, 12 caps, was a late replacement for Bautista Delguy on the right wing and young Mateo Carreras was on the left.
They would be tested in the second half when the All Blacks’ backs decided to finally release wide out the back.
On the first attacking chance in the second half, Barrett played McKenzie out the back to take advantage of the growing disconnect between the centre-wing channel.
Barrett was given early ball to attack the space out wide but Carreras was up to the task and managed to bring the fullback down as he tried to get to the outside.
The All Blacks got a chance shortly after to run the play again going the other way, towards the right wing with Cancelliere and reserve midfielder Matias Orlando.
Barrett and Ioane executed their running lines perfectly, drawing contact and creating the block required for McKenzie to scamper around the corner.
Argentina had the play well-covered and a slight slip up by Orlando is what cost them.
He didn’t bite on Ioane’s line underneath him, but with McKenzie coming around the corner at pace he was caught at a standstill.
The All Black No 10 was able to make the line break and then found the final pass to Beauden Barrett unmarked outside for a slick set piece try.
They tried a chip kick variation on the next attempt, bringing all of Jordie Barrett’s skills to the table.
The Hurricanes’ second five-eighth possesses more power and size than David Havili of the Crusaders, whilst running straighter than Havili demonstrated at times in the past couple of seasons.
Barrett has quickly become the answer at No 12 which has changed the whole dynamic of the backline. Foster has the second five he needs to run his playbook.
He proved that he can handle the physicality from the Argentinians, only getting into trouble once where he was almost held up and turned.
The Test against South Africa will be another good challenge for Barrett in his evolution into a Test midfielder.
Another impressive performance will seal the deal for Barrett as the All Blacks’ 12 heading into the World Cup.
I’m interested to see how the ABs midfield deal with the rush Defence of the boks on Saturday.
The boks game has evolved. Less kicking, more possession. And 2 packs of forwards sharing 80 mins of intense breakdown work. It’s going to be a great contest!
Jordie in position 12 is very interesting. Evaluating him based on Argentina's lousy defense would be a premature move. Likewise, in terms of effectiveness, I only remember the work of Laumape. Jordie's defensive performance was notorious but could have gone unnoticed. Against Los Pumas, with 13 tackles he established a Tackles + / Turnover won Ratio of 15.4% (the standard ratio for a team is between 3% and 5%). Remarkable.
SA have a settled midfield defense, but on Sat they will have Willemse at 10 (vs Pollard). Also, SA would love attacks that stay close to the forwards. It will be interesting to see how much emphasis NZ put on this crash ball, and how well it works.
I expect it to be much less effective than it was in Argentina, but perhaps they will get return from targeting Willemse.
Yeah yeah, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. Jordie is solid and looks good against a poor Argie defense. Their back line was all out of position. SA, France, England and Ireland will really show where he’s at.
England?
This has been obvious for years and why many of us have been screaming play Jordie at 12, instead of having Havilli being thrown around like a rag doll. This is a further indictment on the reign of Foster, who has only made change and progress when he has been forced to or fate has played its hand. Think the front row, the assistant coaches etc... We will finish up with other no brainers like Jordan at fullback, but maybe not until Foster has gone,,,,unless fate plays its hand again
Foster is the coach who made the call to move him to 12. How is that a sad indictment on Foster? No other coach moved him to 12. Great choice by Foster after Havili was injured.
I woul;d have thought that Ngani Laumape offered this type of skill a few years ago ie smashing the opposition defensive line but the likes of Hansen and Foster didnt want him. Strange how we are now searching for a 12 that can offer that same skill set.
What might have been !!!
Laumape was powerful at super level but against the bigger test midfields he struggled to stamp his authority. He's a stocky character but not nearly as big as SBW was or Jordie is. Nor does he have the long levers perfect for offloading those taller guys offer. It should also probably be mentioned that Laumape hasn't made much of a mark up north.
The Hurricanes’ second five-eighth possesses more power and size than David Havili of the Crusaders, whilst running straighter than Havili demonstrated at times in the past couple of seasons.
Painfully obvious. Never understood the attraction of Havili, a talented footballer, but without a clear position in the ABs where he would present a clear advantage over someone else. Reminds me of Steven Pokere a similar player of the early to mid 80s. The ABs are better for DH's absence. I doubt he will be back.