All Blacks attack coach Blair credits player freedom after France first-Test win

Mike Blair, the All Blacks’ attack coach, has reflected on New Zealand’s encouraging but imperfect performance in the first Nations Championship Test against France in Christchurch, crediting a philosophy of player freedom for the attacking threat his side generated.

Blair, appointed as an All Blacks assistant in March, had only ten days with the squad to install a game plan after he and head coach Dave Rennie wrapped up a Japan Rugby League One title with the Kobelco Kobe Steelers in June. Despite that compressed preparation, New Zealand created a string of chances and ran out winners, though Rennie himself acknowledged his side occasionally overplayed.

“I was pretty pleased. We created a lot of opportunities, some of them we didn’t take. That’s a bit of rustiness, a bit of cohesion, with the players,” Blair told media in Christchurch the day after the match. “It’s not a huge amount of time we’ve had together. We’ll build on that next week. It’s time in the saddle, training together, working together to get that cohesion.”

Crusaders outside back Will Jordan was a standout, scoring twice to bring his international try tally to 47. His first finish was an acrobatic effort in the right-hand corner; his second came from reading a Luke Jacobson offload at the right moment. Jordan now sits second on the All Blacks’ all-time try-scoring list behind Doug Howlett’s record of 49, and could realistically break that mark at some point during 2026.

Blair said the attacking structures that Jordan benefited from are built on multi-layered options and collective awareness rather than rigid patterns. “We think we’re dangerous with ball in hand and we can stress opposition with that,” he said. “We’ve talked about momentum and how you can play with that. We’ve talked about multi options and everyone being alive. It’s giving the players a bit of freedom and not being really structured, letting guys express themselves. They’ve got huge natural ability, so letting that be at the forefront of our attack.”

The 84-Test former Scotland halfback did identify one area for improvement, noting that New Zealand’s kicking game lacked balance. “We probably could have kicked a little bit more to have a bit more balance to the game. But kicking isn’t a negative thing — it can be used to break a game up, to create unstructured turnovers and counter-attack. We need to get the balance right with that, but I love the mentality to go after the French team, hold on to the ball and create stress on their defence.”

With a second Test to follow, Blair made clear the squad intends to build on what was only a starting point, with greater cohesion expected as the players accumulate more time together on the training paddock.