All Blacks on edge as sudden-death stage nears

The All Blacks have rejected suggestions of grumpiness in the ranks but admitted Monday to an "edge" as they close in on the business end of the tournament.

The defending champions have won all three games played so far to qualify for the sudden-death section of the tournament with a game to spare.

They have done so without hitting top gear, drawing comments from players of "disappointment" and "still a lot to work on".

But assistant coach Ian Foster maintained they were building towards their A game and would be ready when it mattered.

"We're aware some people think we're grumpy inside but we've won three games, we're in a World Cup tournament where that's the name of the game," Foster said.

"Is there a bigger edge? Yes probably. I don't think it's grumpiness at all. I think it's a desire to get better and better and make sure that the game we want to chuck out on the park is just around the corner."

There have been flaws in attack with backs colliding with each other in a high-paced game when they tried to run Georgia off the park.

The scrum had trouble in the same game, there's been an usually high number of missed tackles, although the number has come down with each outing, and in a game where every point counts the kickers have landed only 11 of 18 conversions.

"We know we haven't put out a performance that's All Blacks standard and I think that's kept us grounded and kept us focussing on the now," loose forward Jerome Kaino said, adding the All Blacks were not looking too far ahead.
"We look back to the last three games and teams have put us under pressure and we know that for us to get better, to improve for the quarter-finals we need to focus on Tonga this week."

The All Blacks are now in camp in Darlington, a 50 minute drive from Newcastle where they play Tonga in their last pool match on Friday.

Foster acknowledged there were "areas clearly identified by us" that needed improving.

"We're adapting and we're still chasing the game we really want to get to and that's not a bad spot to be in," he said.

"Tonga are going to again bring a hard physicality to us. They'll probably try to do some things to us that we think some other teams might do to us later on so it's good preparation."

Source: AFP