Coach of the All Blacks explains ‘Cut and Paste’ description of Ireland

Following the All Blacks’ triumph over Ireland in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal on Saturday night, New Zealand head coach Ian Foster claimed to have felt “quite calm” in the sidelines. “They were going with a cut-and-paste attack, doing the same sort of things,” Foster explained.

This was interpreted as a slur on the Ireland attack by some.

On Sunday, All Blacks McLeod emphasized, “It wasn’t at all a derogatory comment.”

“Cut-and-paste” just indicated that they continued to use the same assault shape. They simply kept looking for areas where we might have weaknesses.

They are among the world’s top attacking teams. They continually force you to make choices and put your execution to the test.

“They just kept trying to run the same stuff against us, and I’m really proud that nobody in our line really tried to win that on their own or win that particular moment on their own,” the speaker says.

“They did it collectively, they stayed connected and they did what we trained and eventually we got the opportunity to turn the ball over.”

Ireland kept possession of the ball for 37 phases in the closing minutes of the game as they looked for a winning try.

“We had to make 276 tackles last night and 100 of those were in the last quarter, and particularly in that last 37 phases,” McLeod stated.

“You know, the most we’ve attempted to make or have had to make in this tournament was 137 versus Italy.

Therefore, there was a great deal of care and, what I would call, Kiwi ticker in us that wanted to finish the task.

“I am quite proud of both our decision-making and the way we executed in that zone. We had to wait for the right opportunity to strike and then execute superbly a number of times when the ball wasn’t there to take.

Sam Whitelock and Ardie Savea both put themselves in a position to do that twice, and we were able to get it in the end.

“We finally got it after that 37th phase and the boys are really happy with that.”

A crucial point in the All Blacks’ defense, according to McLeod, was their loss to Ireland in the summer series of 2022.

“After the series loss at home last year which really hurt, we had to have a really good look at some fundamentals in the defensive game for the All Blacks and a big part of that was in Super Rugby in New Zealand they tend to defend the man,” McLeod said.

“So they surround a man and stand up for him. While we were aware that we would likely have Ireland, Italy, and France in this World Cup, that tactic doesn’t work against any of those teams.

“As a result, we needed to improve our ability to defend the ball. We had to position people in front of the ball wherever it was.

“The fact that we improved the players’ skill level from last year was the most satisfying element. We’ve learned some incredibly painful lessons as a result of that defeat to Ireland and the subsequent year-ending trip.

Since Ireland attacks in such a way, we had to get that correct last night, which is what we mostly did.