All Blacks wary of Welsh rush
Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:20
New Zealand assistant coach Wayne Smith said he had sought advice on how to nullify the rush style of defence employed by Wales under New Zealand coach, Warren Gatland.
The All Blacks are overwhelming favourites to edge closer to a third Grand Slam at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday , but the coaching staff are taking no shortcuts in terms of preparing for a fixture Wales have not won since 1953.
South Africa employed the rush defensive style under Jake White and the number of intercept tries snared by Bryan Habana and Jean de Villiers was a testament to its effectiveness. While conceding tries is a risk, constructing them is also problematic.
"We always managed to get a lot of line breaks against the Boks but we could never finish them off enough," Smith told the NZPA.
"They had a good scrambling D [defence], we've never really been that successful against it.
"We've put a lot of work into it this week. It's good having Stephen Donald and Richard Kahui who have played under that defensive system. You get a feel for what might work but you have to execute that against what's quite a pressing D."
Smith also sought advice from Chiefs coach Ian Foster and former Auckland and now Blues assistant coach, Shane Howarth.
"I talked to Fozzie [Foster] in terms of what stresses him when he's coaching that defence -- and to Howie [Howarth] about how you stress it. I noticed Auckland had some good moves against Waikato when Gats was there," Smith said.
Kahui, who takes over from an injured Conrad Smith at centre, felt he had a useful insight into how Wales will play during his first visit to Cardiff.
"It looks as if they're using the blitz defence, I know what that's about," he said.
"We called it risk verses reward. You can put the attacking team under so much pressure with your line speed and getting up, you can hit them behind the gain line, as a defence it can get you in the game, but if it's not done properly it can be a weakness."
