Hiding in the haka

• Author: RUGBY Liam Napier
• Published date: 08 November 2021
• Publication title: Bay of Plenty Times

Foster, as he did for the USA and Argentina tests earlier this year, revamped the All Blacks from the side that dispatched Wales last week to the one which ran out in Rome yesterday morning (NZT).

A raft of fringe prospects were given starting jerseys — that selection strategy highlighted by 21-year-old Tupou Vaa’i and 20-year-old locking partner Josh Lord now boasting 12 tests between them.

Rattled by Italy’s defensive pressure, unsettled by English referee Karl Dickson’s policing of the breakdown, the All Blacks delivered their worst performance of the year with frequent errors and penalties compromising their flow.

While they finished with seven tries, the All Blacks were held scoreless for the first 28 minutes and led 21-9 midway through the second half before blowing the margin out in the final quarter.

Four tries from lineout drives, two claimed by Dane Coles, and a dominant scrum added a sliver of composure to an otherwise impatient and erratic performance.

“We’ve had to make sure we grow depth on this tour because we’ve got players here for a long time and we’re delighted with the progress out of that. Tonight is another really good learning curve for a number of newer players,” Foster said after the win.

“We got put under a lot of pressure in that first 25 minutes and they found ways to slow the ball down. We tried to force our game a little bit and a lot of that was the pressure they put us under.

“They deserve a lot of credit for the way they started. I was pleased with the way we started to tighten our game up after a few errors and applied a lot of pressure on them, mainly through our set piece.

“They stayed in the game right until the end and for this particular All Black team, this was a great test match for us to have.

“We didn’t get it all our own way and we had to find a way.”

Returning All Blacks captain Sam Cane got through his first 80-minute shift in six months. He and Coles’ experience in a green pack proved vital but Cane sensed the nervous tension when the All Blacks prepared for the haka.

“There were some testing times out there in terms of the frustration levels when we couldn’t get the game going how we would normally like to but it was a pretty good learning experience for a lot of the young guys,” Cane said.

“It probably highlighted the lack of experience when we were trying to set up for the haka and a lot of guys wanted to be in the back row.

“I was proud of the way we didn’t allow frustrations to creep in and affect our...