Something must change after All Blacks crumble to a disheartening series defeat

Marc Hinton is a senior rugby writer for Stuff who has covered the All Blacks since 1996.

ANALYSIS: Forget the comeback in the second half. Forget Wayne Barnes’ incomprehensible yellow card decision. The All Blacks are in trouble barely a year before the World Cup and drastic change seems the only solution.

What other conclusions can you draw after yet another defeat to Ireland at Wellington’s Sky Stadium on Saturday night, their third in the last four in seven months against the men of the Emerald Isle?

This is probably Ireland’s best side in their history, and this series 2-1 win, one down, is arguably their greatest achievement. Let’s get that out there from the start. From Johnny Sexton to Tadhg Beirne to Peter O’Mahony to Robbie Henshaw to Andrew Porter to Josh van de Flier, and all their mates in between, this was an amazing performance from a side that knows exactly who they are and dances wonderfully to that tune.

But it must be acknowledged that something is drastically wrong with these All Blacks who have now lost four of their last five exhibition games with Saturday’s 32-22 loss. It’s not just that the fear factor, or whatever it was they once held about their opponents, is gone. Frankly, he probably disappeared in the north last November.

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But that’s how bad this side is performing, that’s how lack of answers they are, when they’re pressured, something has to be done. What do they say? The definition of insanity is repeating the same mistake over and over.

The All Blacks should have been good enough to send an Irish side away at the end of their long season, on a tour that included more or less five tests. They were painfully not. Their first 40 minutes on Saturday night, when they dug themselves a hole they just couldn’t climb out of, was one of the saddest in recent memory.

What are the answers? Well, a coaching change should at least be considered now. Ian Foster’s grip on his job must be tenuous at best. It’s been suggested to me that an exchange of some assistants might be the solution, but you have to think that the man calling the shots must be in the line of fire. This just doesn’t work, and the board of NZ Rugby owes it to their people to dig deep into this.

The captain must also come under the microscope. Sam Cane is a fine dude and a solid player, but after crumbling their first home series defeat in the professional era (the 1994 2-0 shutout by France, the final stumbling block), nothing can be considered but rating . Something has to change in the All Blacks makeup and game, or a depressingly similar script will follow next year.

Sure, the friction of the green didn’t go to their liking. Andrew Porter’s yellow card early in the second spell looked identical to the red card dealt to All Blacks supporter Angus Ta’avao a week earlier. They can rightfully claim to be victims of glaring inconsistency.

But you have to be good enough to take the blows to your chin, as it were. There were not. They came back into the game with a devastating third quarter, after which the Irish were able to regain the upper hand in the nick of time. Again, mistakes and shortcomings cost the men in black dearly.

The All Blacks had dug themselves a big hole after the first 40, in part because they produced a chaotic half of rugby that gave the visitors anything but momentum; and partly because Ireland was simply superb in their execution and ability to punish the New Zealanders for their carelessness and ill-discipline.

The All Blacks lost four lineouts on their first half pitch – not the accuracy you need when you’re under the pump like these guys. That, after Foster stated in the run-up that the set had functioned smoothly and whore Codie Taylor “was in a really good place there”.

But that debauchery, that waste, that stubbornness was not limited to lineout time. Sam Cane conceded a stupid penalty for a tackle from the ball that Josh van der Flier coughed up on the first try when Ireland had the confidence and ability to kick to the corner and execute.

Beauden Barrett was similarly penalized for knocking out an Irish player past the ruck – bang, Sexton knocks over three from almost halfway through. Then, with halftime approaching, Nepo Laulala tries a risky offload from 15 yards, but loses it forward and, bang, Henshaw is over with an excellent short pass from the visitors.

At halftime 22-3, this was one team working at full efficiency, with relentless accuracy, and another team died a painful death due to their own ineptitude.

The New Zealanders were better in the second half. They had to, otherwise it would have been embarrassing. Guided by the incomparable Savea and some trademark of Will Jordan brilliance, they came back roaring with a trio of tries that brought them right back to it. Akira Ioane also contributed manfully, albeit with a few mistakes.

Then their run came to an end. The question to be asked now is that Foster will soon be too?