The All Blacks have bought in ‘the Professor’ as they look to overcome a worrying trend.
The Professor is Sir Wayne Smith – the former All Black player and coach.
He was assistant coach during the All Blacks World Cup wins in 2011 and 2015 and coached the Black Ferns to World Cup success in 2022 and is regarded as one of the best tacticians in the game world-wide.
The All Blacks escaped with a three-point win over the Wallabies in Sydney at the weekend, but it was the fifth test in a row where they have failed to score any points in the final quarter of the match.
The win ensured they yet again retained the Bledisloe Cup but it will be South Africa and Argentina who fight out the Rugby Championship crown in South Africa this weekend while the All Blacks and Wallabies square off in Wellington.
Assistant coach Jason Holland said: “Smithy came in (Sunday) night and is going to be a bit of a fly on the wall. I’m picking his brains, everybody’s picking his brains around the little things he’s seen. He’s claiming he’s not watching too much footy any more, living over on the Gold Coast but from the little bits he’s giving us, he’s all over it.”
Wellington too has been problematic for the All Blacks, having failed to win a test in more than six years following the shock loss to the Pumas last month.
Their last win at Sky Stadium was in 2018 over France but since then have suffered losses to South Africa, Ireland and Argentina and had two draws – one against the Springboks and the other against the Wallabies.
As for the Wellington stadium hoodoo, Holland admitted their poor recent form at the venue had been a topic of discussion.
“We’re really aware of that and we’ve got plans in place … it’s an awesome opportunity to put out a good performance and its a packed out stadium so we’re pretty driven to play the footy that we want to play.”
Fullback Will Jordan conceded while they had ignored their track record in Wellington in the past, that was not the case this week.
“We’ve had a bit of discussion … and from a players perspective, humbled to seen that it’s a sell out for our last home game and pretty excited about going out there and putting on a performance the ground and region deserve. It’s hugely motivating for us to go out and get a win this week.”
Jordan said he was also looking forward to having a chat with Smith.
“I haven’t had too much to do with Wayne in the past … but have a huge amount of respect for him and what he has done.
“I shook his hand and said ‘g’day’ and it will be nice to pick his brains a little bit and a great man to have working behind the scenes with the coaches and the players and no doubt he will have a big influence on us.”