Pocock the pest gets under Blacks' skin
Expect the Wallabies No.7 to spoil the New Zealanders' reign at the breakdown - they do, writes Greg Growden in Christchurch.
The All Blacks are talking about David Pocock. The coaching staff mention him. Richie McCaw discusses his impact. Even All Blacks five-eighth Daniel Carter this week explained how Pocock has become a prize pest.
New Zealand won by 21 points in Melbourne but, as far as Carter was concerned, there was at least one facet of the game they did not dominate. They might have McCaw, but they did not reign at the breakdown. That was all due to Pocock.
''There were a few areas where they really ripped into us,'' Carter said. ''Pocock turned over a lot of ball, and he really got in there and became a nuisance for us. That was pretty frustrating, so it is an area we really have to work on.''
This did not come as a complete surprise to the All Blacks. The previous week the coaching team of Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith travelled to Brisbane to watch the Wallabies-Springboks Test and witnessed Pocock's man-of-the-match performance - his second such plaudit after receiving the same award at Croke Park late last year against Ireland.
Key New Zealand players such as McCaw and Carter were similarly aware of Pocock's threat, given his menacing performance for the Western Force against the Crusaders in Perth in April. They realised that in his third season of international football, he had come of age - a notion reinforced when, before the Springboks Test, Wallabies forwards coach Jim Williams said it was time for Pocock to take over the George Smith mantle.
So far so good.
The pressure gets even more excruciating for Pocock, because he is now a marked man. Tonight, the All Blacks will shadow him everywhere - as they know he is probably the most dangerous identity in the Wallaby line-up. But that doesn't seem to concern the 22-year-old.
''As a No.7, the better you play, the more teams will target you and the more teams will try to disrupt your game,'' Pocock told the Herald. ''That's the way it is, and the key to that is for the other two back-rowers, Richard [Brown] and Rocky [Elsom], [to] consequently get more opportunities. Then again you always do want the opposition to be looking out for you.''
If the Wallabies are to have any chance tonight, they need Pocock to again emerge as a distraction for the All Blacks. Pocock is clearly primed for that, because no one was more devastated by the Wallabies first Bledisloe Cup loss.
According to insiders in the Wallabies dressing room last Saturday night, Pocock was near inconsolable.
''David just hates losing,'' one noted.
It is little wonder those in power view him as a future Wallabies leader, given how much he puts in, how committed he is to the cause and how irritated he is when goals are not achieved. It's not surprising he was yesterday wheeled out in front of the New Zealand media with Elsom and Will Genia for the final media conference, as an indication that there is actually more than one leader within this young group.
Pocock is still burning about what happened at Etihad Stadium that night, six days on.
''Obviously you are very hurt after games like that,'' he said. ''To lose to the All Blacks by that margin, well, you felt stung for the whole week. You look at the score, and think, 'That's not great'. Everyone has been pretty agitated by it, and that's why we're looking forward to Saturday night, and so we can have another crack at them. Once we started to play with 14 men we showed what we can do. But 14 men against the All Blacks, well you're dreaming if you think you're going to win. The thing for us now is to take the mindset we had when we were down to 14 men and now play the entire game like that.''
To avoid similar pain in Christchurch, the Wallabies have worked on improving their midfield kicking, restarts and work at the tackle.
''We know what we have to do,'' Pocock said. ''The All Blacks just thrive off turnover ball, particularly around the ruck, as well as kicks back to them that aren't on the money. So we must not give them that turnover ball, and if we do, going straight into our defence and shutting down their counter-attackers. Also the kickers have to be putting the ball in the right areas.
''We can't allow them to take those easy, quick throws. You look at their back line. It is such a dangerous counter-attacking unit, and so you can't give them any chances.
''At the breakdown last weekend, we weren't that far off. I thought we did all right, and we stole a fair bit of their ball, too. So I guess each team is really going to ramp up their work at the breakdown this weekend.''
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans knows Pocock and McCaw well, and has observed that Pocock is ''probably a little bit more physically advanced at this age than Richie was''. ''Hence Richie was just held back a little bit so that he wouldn't be physically compromised,'' Deans said. ''But both of them, once they entered, thrived.''
Deans, however, stopped short of declaring Pocock had the potential to supersede McCaw as a player.
''I don't see any need to compare,'' Deans says. ''Richie's a remarkable player. Just enjoy what he does. Because you've got one good player doesn't mean you can't have two.''
The Wallabies are understandably grateful that one of them is theirs.
The Pocock File
Born: Messina, South Africa
Age: 22
Major teams: Western Force, Australia
Position: Breakaway
Height: 183cm
Weight: 103kg
Tests: 21
Debut: v New Zealand, Hong Kong, 2008
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...806-11ok1.html
