Retired England tighthead prop Dan Cole has accused the All Blacks lineout of \u201cfalling apart\u201d in last weekend\u2019s record Rugby Championship defeat to the Springboks.<\/p>\n
New Zealand were humbled 10-43 in Wellington<\/a>, with their final quarter collapse triggered by what the Test centurion English front-rower described as \u201cpossibly the worst four-man lineout in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n Down 10-17 on the scoreboard, the All Blacks had a 61st-minute lineout five metres from their own line where the throw from replacement Brodie McAlister<\/a> was stolen by South Africa\u2019s Ruan Nortje<\/a>.<\/p>\n Three phases later, Damian Willemse was crashing over for a Springboks try and that score ignited a one-sided finish to the match that left Scott Robertson\u2019s team in tatters.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel for the hooker there\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Cole has now shared his thoughts on the seminal Round Four match, sticking the boot in on the All Blacks<\/a> for failing to rectify the lineout difficulties they encountered in Auckland in the previous week\u2019s win over South Africa.<\/p>\n Although they won that Round Three encounter 24-17, the All Blacks were 12 from 15 on their own lineout ball and that ratio got worse in Wellington where they finished with nine successful throws from 13 \u2013 that\u2019s an accuracy of just 75 per cent (21\/28) across two matches.<\/p>\n Appearing on For The Love Of Rugby<\/a>, the podcast he co-hosts with fellow retired England player Ben Youngs, Cole didn\u2019t shy away from criticising the All Blacks\u2019 set-piece malfunction.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big part of the game for New Zealand was their lineout fell apart, which didn\u2019t help,\u201d Cole began. \u201cNew Zealand were in the wringer in that they couldn\u2019t get out of their own half, South Africa would steal the ball and then put them back in their own half. It was, \u2018Someone is going to crack\u2019, and it was the Kiwis that did.\u201d<\/p>\n The match was 56 minutes old when the inexperienced McAlister replaced Samisoni Taukei\u2019aho at hooker, and he imploded five minutes later<\/a> when failing to hit Scott Barrett out of touch near their own line.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Zealand probably do what could possibly be the worst four-man lineout in the world when you know exactly where it is going,\u201d suggested Cole.<\/p>\n All Blacks predicted team v Wallabies: \u2018Tweaks\u2019 rather than \u2018mass changes\u2019 from Scott Robertson despite Springboks humiliation<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI feel for the hooker there\u2026 sometimes there will be a dummy and if the other team doesn\u2019t bite on it, they know that they are going up exactly alongside your ball.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like you almost end up throwing it to them because you are aware they are in your eyeline and as the hooker is releasing it, you know it\u2019s getting intercepted. They did that and South Africa three phases later scored with Willemse under the post \u2013 and basically that\u2019s the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Quizzed by ex-scrum-half Youngs whether this general lineout inconsistency was specifically a New Zealand issue or was it because South Africa get so many jumpers in their air, Cole answered: \u201cIt\u2019s both.<\/p>\n \u201cSouth Africa have a lot of tall bodies and pride themselves on the set-piece, but New Zealand are playing their third-choice hooker basically. Codie Taylor, who is a great leader and a great hooker, is out injured so although the third hooker would be in camp, they are not getting the same amount of reps everyone else has got.<\/p>\n \u201cThen you have got different combinations to throw to under pressure, and you are up against it playing against the Springboks. Everything has to be double top, and it wasn\u2019t. But it\u2019s fixable. Of course it is fixable, like we saw on the (British and Irish) Lions tour.\u201d<\/p>\n Wasteful Rieko Ioane fails to impress in five-year first while All Blacks star enjoys try-scoring return<\/a><\/p>\n