In the New Zealand Herald, Richard Loe believes the All Blacks may have revealed one of their biggest weaknesses in their opening Rugby World Cup match against Tonga - the scrum.
"I wouldn't be too hard on the All Blacks for that rather disappointing second half, the handling errors and so on. They did do a lot of things right and showed that if they can get the ball out wide they are capable of scoring almost at will.
"But what was really disappointing for me was the set pieces and the scrum in particular. When have we ever seen Tonga deliberately choose to pack down a scrum against the All Black pack? What's more, they eventually scored from it.
"The disappointment is that the All Blacks have sent a signal to their World Cup opponents that does them no favours. They have basically said to rivals: if you want to beat the All Blacks, have a go at them up front, retain the ball and attack in close. Believe me, they will all have noticed that."
RSS feed
