All Blacks’ high-ball troubles expose weakness before Springboks Tests

New Zealand’s failure to deal with contestable kicks in their 38-21 victory over the Stormers will be a major concern for coach Dave Rennie before the All Blacks begin their four-Test series against South Africa.

The match in the opening fixture of the World’s Greatest Rivalry tour highlighted a significant weakness in New Zealand’s aerial game, an area in which the Springboks have become particularly effective.

The All Blacks secured possession from just one of the seven contestable kicks they faced, while they failed to complete a single clean catch from seven high-ball opportunities.

That vulnerability is likely to have been noted by South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus, whose side are widely regarded as masters of the contestable kicking game. The first Test between the teams is scheduled for 22 August in Johannesburg.

New Zealand’s overall performance was strong enough to earn a convincing win, but the statistics suggest there is considerable work to do before they face the reigning world champions.

The All Blacks made nine entries into the 22-metre area and averaged 4.2 points from those visits. The Stormers entered the same area 10 times but averaged only 2.1 points.

New Zealand also created seven line breaks to the Stormers’ five. They carried the ball 141 times and produced 417 post-contact metres, compared with 98 carries and 243 post-contact metres for the South African side.

The All Blacks kicked 16 times during the game, one more than the Stormers.

Defensively, New Zealand made 120 tackles, while the Stormers made 151. The All Blacks recorded seven dominant tackles, narrowly ahead of the Stormers’ six, but missed 20 tackles compared with 29 by their opponents.

The Stormers won five turnovers, including three from tackles. New Zealand forced three turnovers, with one coming from a tackle.

The All Blacks also completed 14 tackle offloads, while the Stormers made 16.

In the breakdown, both teams recorded the same proportion of rucks completed within three seconds, at 64%. New Zealand completed 25% of their rucks in three to six seconds and 10% in more than six seconds. The Stormers’ corresponding figures were 25% and 12%.

New Zealand won 93 rucks, compared with 70 for the Stormers.

Despite those statistical advantages in several areas, the All Blacks’ inability to contest or safely collect high kicks remains an obvious concern. South Africa are likely to test that weakness repeatedly when the teams meet, and New Zealand will need a marked improvement in their aerial decision-making and execution to avoid a difficult tour.

The Stormers’ defeat also came amid debate over a number of refereeing decisions. Former South Africa wing Breyton Paulse described the match as a “‘A few strange calls’: Paulse weighs in on Stormers-All Blacks ‘spectacle’”, while another report asked whether the Stormers had been let down by contentious refereeing calls.

The All Blacks’ match statistics were supplied by Rugby Pass.