'Troubling' - Umaga and All Blacks wary of Ireland's threat to fortress
All Blacks assistant coach Tana Umaga, a man who knows a thing or two about the team’s traditions and records, believes Ireland will arrive in Auckland for their Test at Eden Park with a total absence of fear about playing at New Zealand’s fortress.
Further, Umaga, a former All Blacks captain now in charge of the team’s defence under head coach Dave Rennie (and more than likely an important guardian of the team’s culture), described Ireland's potential mindset as "troubling".
He added that his men would have to put in a huge amount of work this week to maintain their unbeaten record at a place where they have not tasted defeat since 1994.
Next Saturday’s Nations Championship fixture presents as a significant challenge three Tests into the new coaching regime’s campaign.
With South Africa also winning two from two with bonus points, the world champions top the Southern table by virtue of a better points differential after wins over England and Scotland, so next weekend's fixtures are critical and very much in the Boks' favour as they face Wales in Durban after the Welsh travel from defeat in Argentina.
Closer to home, there were instances during the second half of last night’s 47-17 victory that the All Blacks will stretch Ireland if they can retain the ball for long enough but signs too that the home side could struggle to win it back if the Irish are determined to keep it.
One of the big issues of Scott Robertson’s reign was the All Blacks’ difficulties in winning the ball back, and, while the All Blacks went on to blitz Italy in the third quarter in Wellington after holding off what was essentially a France B side in Christchurch, the Irish, unbeaten on their southern tour with wins over the Wallabies in Sydney and Japan in Newcastle (New South Wales), will be a different proposition.
“They don’t fear [the All Blacks],” Umaga said. “We’re at home and we have to make sure we give everything we can and show the improvements week to week.
“They come over here with a real mindset that they have nothing to fear… that’s troubling for us and it’s something we have to make sure we’re wary of. But we have… a lot of traditions here and we need to keep those strong. We give them the utmost respect because they’ve earned it and continue to earn it.”
The traditions include a remarkable unbeaten record at Eden Park which amounts to 52 Tests; 50 victories and two draws.
The All Blacks’ last Test there was last September when they held off Australia 33-24 in a Bledisloe Cup match. A few weeks earlier they beat the Springboks 24-17 before being walloped 43-10 in Wellington seven days later.
But the Irish created history in 2022 when winning the Test series 2-1 against the All Blacks in New Zealand, as Umaga alluded to, and the world's No.3-ranked team, behind the Boks and All Blacks, are extremely difficult to breach.
“As we’ve seen with Ireland, they love breaking down firsts so we have to be on top of our game,” he said. “Tradition won’t get us through. We have to do the work and that will get us through this week.”
Other records were top of mind this morning, including Will Jordan’s record-breaking hat-trick of tries against Italy which took his Test tally to 50 in 56 Tests.
“I played a lot of rugby with Doug Howlett and I didn’t think that record would be broken,” Umaga said.
As for matters under Umaga’s defensive portfolio, conceding two tries to the Azzurri was an improvement on the week before when the All Blacks let in four – and a total of 32 points – but the concession of the first try of the match for Tomasso Menoncello will have irked the coach and his colleagues.
“It was a marked improvement from last week,” Umaga said. “There are still massive areas for us [to improve]. The starts of games are something we need to work on. Getting our mindset right from the whistle. I think we have to take our hat off to the tenacity that the Italians brought. You could see by their physicality they were right up for it.
“They saw an opportunity and they gave it to us. They put us under pressure.”
However, Umaga added of his own team: “These young guys didn’t hold back. I think they’ve shown in two weeks a lot of resilience and that’s what it takes at Test rugby level. You have to stay in it. There will be moments when things don’t go well but it’s how you bounce back and I think we’ve bounced back really well.”
We'll find out a lot more about this team this weekend.