The All Blacks Are Fun Again — But Can They Learn to Defend?

Let’s not high-five each other just yet, people.

Yes, the All Blacks won. Yes, they scored five tries. And yes, for long periods against France they played the kind of ambitious, ball-in-hand rugby we’ve been begging to see.

But they also conceded 32 points, leaked four tries and spent the final couple of minutes hanging on like a bloke trying to carry six pints back from the bar without spilling half of them.

So what did we learn from Dave Rennie’s first Test in charge?

The attack has a pulse. The defence gave us palpitations.

New Zealand’s 34-32 victory at Christchurch’s new One New Zealand Stadium was a cracking Test match. Five tries to four, seven lead changes and enough momentum swings to make both sets of supporters seasick. Cam Roigard and Will Jordan scored twice each, Peter Lakai finished a beauty, and France kept coming until Matthieu Jalibert’s late try dragged them within two.

For the neutral, it was magnificent.

For an All Blacks supporter, it was magnificent mixed with mildly terrifying.

The start could hardly have been worse. Damian Penaud scored after 78 seconds and Ruben Love was shown yellow for a high tackle on Max Spring during the movement. Here was the new first-five, in his first major opportunity to control an All Blacks Test, sitting in the bin before he’d had time to get his socks dirty.

But this is where Love deserves enormous credit.

He came back, settled himself and played. He didn’t hide, he didn’t become conservative and he didn’t allow one very avoidable mistake to define his night. That tells you something about the bloke.

Was it a perfect performance? No. But did he do enough to start against Italy? Absolutely.

The Roigard-Love-Jordie Barrett axis needs time together. You don’t build combinations by changing the combination every week, and Love has earned the right to go again.

What impressed me most, though, was that you could actually see what the All Blacks were trying to do.

That sounds like a ridiculously low bar for an international rugby team, but after the clunky, confused and constipated attack we watched far too often last year, this felt different.

The best example was Lakai’s try.

The All Blacks had possession near their own 22. The predictable option was to kick, chase and begin the usual aerial game of pass-the-parcel. Instead, Damian McKenzie injected himself into the line, Roigard generated quick ball, Quinn Tupaea’s hands created space and Lakai and Caleb Clarke ripped down the left-hand side.

That wasn’t someone producing a random moment of individual magic. It was a constructed team try. A plan executed at pace. It was brave, accurate and bloody exciting.

That, more than anything, offered hope.

There was width. There was ambition. There were players running onto the ball rather than standing around waiting for it. And when the attack clicked, France genuinely struggled to contain it.

Jordan remains an extraordinary finisher. He now has 46 Test tries after his double, level with Christian Cullen, Joe Rokocoko and Julian Savea, and three short of Doug Howlett’s All Blacks record of 49.

Roigard was equally influential. He scored twice, handled much of the tactical kicking and gave the attack tempo. When he plays quickly, everything around him seems to accelerate.

Up front, Luke Jacobson justified his selection. Busy, physical, constantly involved and willing to attack the breakdown. Sam Darry also took an unexpected opportunity and made a convincing case that the All Blacks’ locking depth might be healthier than many of us feared.

And Jamie Hannah coming off the bench at short notice in front of friends and family? Great story. He looked comfortable, composed and completely deserving of his place.

But now we get to the large, tricolour elephant sitting in the room.

France were very good.

We sometimes analyse All Blacks Tests as though the opposition are training cones whose only purpose is to reveal our weaknesses. France had quality throughout their side, attacked with confidence and were missing several obvious first-choice stars, including Antoine Dupont, Thomas Ramos and Louis Bielle-Biarrey.

They travelled halfway around the world, scored four tries and came within two points of winning. Fabien Galthié had every reason to leave Christchurch encouraged.

That context matters.

It also doesn’t excuse the All Blacks’ defensive problems.

Penaud’s opening try went through a hole large enough to drive the French team bus through. Jordie Barrett and Quinn Tupaea were both caught badly, and there were other periods when the defensive spacing and decision-making simply weren’t Test standard.

The discipline was also unnecessary. High tackles and avoidable penalties gifted France field position without requiring them to earn it. You cannot keep providing good international sides with free invitations into your half and expect to survive indefinitely.

The positive is that those problems should be correctable. Defensive alignment, tackle height and lineout accuracy can all improve with time together.

The attacking identity is often the harder thing to create, and for the first time in a while there appeared to be one.

We also need to be fair.

Had Scott Robertson produced this exact performance three years into his reign, we would be tearing strips off him for the defensive lapses. Rennie, however, was coaching his first Test with a new group and new systems. He deserves the same grace period every new coach receives.

Not unlimited patience. Not a free pass. But a fair opportunity.

Italy next weekend provides the chance to rotate parts of the squad while retaining enough continuity to keep building. Then comes Ireland at Eden Park on July 18, and that is when we will learn considerably more about where this side actually stands.

My mark for Test number one?

Seven out of 10.

The win matters. The five tries matter. The visible attacking intent matters enormously.

But 32 points conceded also matters.

This was not proof the All Blacks are back. It was not evidence they have closed the gap on South Africa, and it certainly wasn’t the finished product.

What it was, however, was a start.

An entertaining, imperfect and occasionally exhilarating start.

After what we watched last year, I’ll take that.