New Zealand paid the price for ignoring lessons that could have been learned earlier in the year
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It was appropriate that the rush defence employed by England should play such a big part in the end of the All Blacks’ Rugby World Cup dream. For much of the year, it seemed like the New Zealand brains trust had been in a rush, trying to piece a title defence together by making dramatic last-minute changes to both strategy and personnel in an ultimately failed pursuit of the perfect formula.
It was policy on the run, rather than the culmination of a detailed four-year-plan. A series of gambles, creating some structural issues that always had the potential to unravel when it mattered most. Settled teams win World Cups. All Blacks coach Steve Hansen should have appreciated this more than anyone, having been associated with two massively experienced title-winning teams in 2011 and 2015.
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