All Blacks get back to basics
Driving rain and a stiff breeze meant this game was always going to be tight and the All Blacks pack seized on the opportunity to retain almost exclusive possession and score tries while at the same time handing out a thrashing to Nuneaton's front eight. It was hard luck on the home back line, who cut disconsolate figures at times as they watched from the periphery of a 30-3 victory that earned the All Blacks five valuable National One points.
On a day when the Cornishmen emerged after the break in luminescent green shirts to cope with the gloom overhead and the goo underfoot, their backs could at least take comfort from claiming an equal share of a four-try tally that sets the club up nicely for its pre-festive programme.
"We've seen 12 forwards today who have not given anything to the opposition in any exchange whether it be scrum, maul, ruck or indeed a fight," said All Blacks director of rugby Jon Hill after a contest in which Nuneaton were all over the place in the rucks, resulting in a number of punch-ups and off-the-ball unpleasantness. "Our guys didn't take a step back all day; it was a huge performance," added Hill. "That's what the Polson Bridge faithful love down here and what they want to see – forward- orientated, in-your-face rugby – that's exactly what they got and they can be well pleased with their team."
The All Blacks were totally dominant in the first half but went into the break only 7-0 up courtesy of Sam Hocking's fourth-minute try, converted by Tony Yapp. Too often the Cornishmen allowed themselves to be turned over within striking range of Nuneaton's line and were continually frustrated in the loose, where the visitors' forwards took every opportunity to kill the ball and disrupt at the fringes. However, fly-half Yapp's superb kicking from hand kept his forwards on the offensive and although scoring was at a premium, there was really only one side in it.
Referee Philip Davies had a tough job trying to keep the game moving in atrocious conditions and was perhaps over-tolerant in the face of Nuneaton's persistent infringements, but all that changed after the break as he took a firmer line and a string of penalties allowed that deadly partnership between Yapp and his forwards to blossom.
Tries followed for Ed Lewsey magnificent at scrum-half in slippery conditions – skipper Mal Roberts and replacement hooker Jamie Salter while Nuneaton were fortunate to escape with a solitary yellow card as loose-head James Taylor finally paid the collective price for his team-mates' misdemeanours.
Hill knows that ideally, his players should have put more points on the board in the first half but accepted that Nuneaton's spoiling tactics were only partially to blame. He said: "It's been an issue with parts of our game that we haven't converted pressure into points and I thought we were a bit loose in the first half and needed to put more numbers into the breakdown.
"There was a lot of infringement that perhaps went unnoticed but in the second half the referee lost patience with them and we were more patient with the ball, and did the basics, and the rest took care it itself."
Lewsey made it 12-0 three minutes after the restart to calm home nerves, peeling off the side of a ruck for an unconverted try before Yapp and opposing fly-half Huw Thomas exchanged penalties.
With replacement forwards Neil Bayliss, Tom Rawlings and Salter making their presence felt, the All Blacks were looking the likely winners and the tide broke with 17 minutes left as Yapp slotted another three-pointer and Hill made a pivotal triple replacement with Dave Kimberley sent on for flanker Mike Rawlings and Steve Perry slotting into Yapp's half-back berth.
Perry made an immediate impact, surprising his team-mates with an accurate chip to the right-hand corner for Roberts to slither over before, fittingly, Salter ensured the forwards had the final say with the converted bonus-point try.
Following their exertions in the gruelling home defeat against Esher two weeks ago, Hill was delighted that his players had come back with a similar full-blooded performance and this time the result had been positive.
The coach said: "There was a fair amount of pressure on our guys and we were well aware that we have won only one of our last five games.
"It wasn't a day for running rugby and throwing the ball around but sometimes that focuses your attention and brings out the best in those you rely on. I feel our pack came of age today and a bonus-point victory is really down to those guys."
