PAUL REES COMMENT

Early strike: Ioane goes over for the All Blacks

A FEATUREof the All Blacks over the years has been their ability to blight opponents with problems they had not anticipated. Yesterday it was the attacking cross-kick which was employed four times in the opening quarter, mainly in the direction of Jack Nowell.
It yielded some immediate reward through Caleb Clarke but it had more of a longterm goal, making a rush defence which had suffocated Japan the week before think. Freddie Steward bolstered Nowell on one kick and while New Zealand may have had a challenging ye...