All Blacks look to ‘reset to zero’ after Rugby Championship triumph
The All Blacks are looking to “reset to zero” this week after the joys of claiming the 2023 Rugby Championship title with a commanding 38-7 win over the Wallabies last weekend.
The victory rounded out a confident clean sweep over their southern hemisphere rivals and once again puts the team in the spotlight as one of the favourites heading into the Rugby World Cup in France which begins in September.
The task this week is the Bledisloe II Test against Australia, but this time on home soil as Eddie Jones‘ side are set to battle the All Blacks under the roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
Happy to be at home
Hooker Codie Taylor is excited to be playing at home but underlined the importance of the reset for his side.
“We’ve got to reset to zero again this week because we get to play Australia at home, which is going to be exciting too,” he said.
Form second-row
Taylor had high praise for teammate Scott Barrett, who is in outstanding form of late, that included a monstrous hit on Tate McDermott in the last game that resulted in a try.
? BOOM!
? Scott Barrett times this perfectly to set up a try for Shannon Frizell. #BledisloeCup #AUSvNZL https://t.co/hmjSfiwcAh
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) July 29, 2023
“He’s one of those men who doesn’t rest. He’s always looking for opportunities, and he saw one there and took it. The world knows not to throw it off the top when they’re five metres out now,” he said.
“It just goes to show the nature of Scooter [Barrett] and the way he’s playing at the moment.”
The veteran highlighted how the coaches split up their load to come together for the central game plan.
“We didn’t finish the way we wanted to, but it was all there around the style of game we wanted to play, and all the coaches are putting in massive work, and their input in each little area has been huge for us,” he added.
“Fozzie [Ian Foster] is on the attack, and Schmidty [Joe Schmidt] focuses on the breakdown and keeping the ball alive.
“Then you’ve got Stormy [Scott McLeod] and Jase [Jason Ryan], whose controlling d [defence] and set-piece.
“We’re getting there but there’s still a lot to build on and that’s the exciting thing.”
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