Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read has warned that New Zealand‘s maul defence has become a target for their remaining Nations Championship opponents, after Scotland hooker Ewan Ashman scored three tries at Murrayfield.
“You don’t want to be seeing your pack go back three times. It’s just an invitation for Wales, England, whoever they’re playing in the future to go, ‘This is where we’re going to take them’,” Read said on The Good, The Bad & Rugby Australia & New Zealand.
Is the maul the way to beat these All Blacks?
Read was speaking alongside host Andy Rowe and former Wallabies hooker Jeremy Paul, in an episode published on 10 November.
The All Blacks beat Scotland 43–21 on Saturday 7 November. Scotland scored all 21 of their points before half-time and none after it.
READ MORE: All Blacks Team v Wales: Out In July, Beauden Barrett Now Captain
‘That’s disappointing’
Read praised the control New Zealand showed after the break.
“It wasn’t necessarily just through flair or anything. It was just grinding the Scottish down,” he said.
Then he turned to what went wrong before it.
“From the All Black point of view, there’s a couple of things they’ve got to get right,” Read continued. “Come England, and potentially whoever they play in that finals weekend, they would need to sort out the defensive maul.
“You’ve got Ewan Ashman scoring three tries right off the maul. And that’s disappointing, man.”
Two of Ashman’s three tries came from lineout mauls. The other came in open play.
‘This is where we’re going to take them’
The former No 8 traced the problem back to penalties, which he counted at eight in the first half.
“Discipline in that first half was horrific,” he added.
“Yellow cards, and then suddenly you’re defending the maul, which is tough now.”
Rowe agreed that opponents would stop kicking at goal.
“If any of those teams get a penalty in the All Blacks’ half, they’re kicking it to the corner,” the host said.
Paul disagrees
Paul, who won 72 caps for Australia at hooker, did not see a weakness.
“To be honest, I thought they defended it really well,” he said.
There was praise from Read for tighthead prop Fletcher Newell.
“Fletcher Newell, he has got the ceiling to be one of the world’s best,” Read added. “He’s got the perfect body shape for a tighthead prop.”
Head coach Dave Rennie has made ten changes for the Test against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday 14 November, with Asafo Aumua at hooker and Newell retained. Kick-off is 14:10 GMT. England follow in the final round.
READ MORE: Wales Team v New Zealand: Josh Adams Out After 2 Tries, XV 59 Caps Lighter
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