At the Death

Ryan Crotty crosses at the death. Poor Ireland (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

This post was started during a conversation with a fellow fan online while we discussed how badly the New Zealand All Blacks were going to crush the USA Eagles in their game on November 1st. My counterpart said something to the effect of "If the US keep it close in the first 15-20 minutes than I think they'll be alright", which is normally a nice idea but since that left 60 minutes of ruthless All Black domination, and with the defeat of Australia at the death still fresh in my mind, I replied that the chances of it being anything less than a complete romp were probably as close to 0 as is possible.

In my mind it was the last 20 minutes that I'd seen this All Blacks side pull away from teams, and what sort of blogger be if I didn't take the time to examine and qualify that narrative? A lazy one is the answer. And since I am not lazy (merely busy, they're different) I have reviewed all 38 test matches the All Black have played since the end of Rugby World Cup 2011 to see if this idea holds true.