EN vs AR was an interesting game as EN was forced to find solutions on the pitch and going away from their original game plan.
The solutions found were rough and implemented by a fistful of players supported by the rest of the team.
As a collective effort, it was limited. It worked though.
NZ used to shine by the quality of its adaptation on the pitch. Players were able to find solutions right out of the pot and contrary to EN while working as a unit.
NZ was also able to switch game plans even though it had to bz determined at half time.
One of the many differences with the current crop: ABs are stuck in a game plan and unable to go beyond it. They can not adapt, they keep to what they drill during the preparation week.
The loss of the adaptative capability must be traced down to the interactions with SA rugby.
SA rugby ways are monolithic. It is useless to adapt to things that does not change.
Main failure from NZ was to stop referring to themselves and start to keep tabs on SA rugby.
This has dragged NZ down to SA rugby misery.
