The All Blacks did consider going for a drop goal at the end of their match against the Springboks in Wellington.
Flyhalf Beauden Barrett fell back into the pocket at one stage, when the hosts were close to the Bok tryline in front of the posts. But the team then decided to go for a try instead. Damian McKenzie knocked on in the 83rd minute and the Boks won 36-34.
‘The call went out to take a shot there,’ said replacement scrumhalf TJ Perenara. ‘We went to set for it but then we got a picture where we have a three-on-two and for me, there are a lot more things that can go wrong in a drop goal than can in a three-on-two.
‘If we execute that, we are not having this conversation about a drop goal. But the decision to set up for it did definitely happen. It was a call that got given but if I was out there I would have made the same call and looking back on it, I still think it was the right call.’
However, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen disagreed.
‘Should we have drop kicked a goal? Of course, we should have. We had plenty of opportunities and we organised ourselves.
‘It’s not something we don’t have in our back pocket, because it is.
‘That’s a [lesson] and a game management thing that this team has to go through and this will be a massive opportunity for this team to grow.’
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Photo: Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images
