Scott Robertson reacts to gutsy All Blacks victory over England

It wasn’t pretty, but Scott Robertson and his All Blacks have claimed a third victory over England in 2024, after a tight 24-22 contest this morning at Allianz Stadium in London.

England was in the game till the death, once again putting this All Blacks side under pressure throughout a gruelling 80 minutes.

It’s another performance from the All Blacks that had its flaws. But a late Damian McKenzie conversion from the right touchline secured a morale-boosting win to make it two wins from two on the Northern Tour.

Scott Robertson was pleased with his side’s ability to find a way to victory.

“It probably had every bit of emotion in the game didn’t it, we showed a lot of character, stayed in the fight for a long period of time, and 15 minutes to go coming from eight down is a pretty special moment for us as a group,” Robertson said to media at Allianz Stadium. 

“I’m pleased, just as much as relieved really, I’m pleased because of how much effort, and care, every game we’ve been in this year we’ve had a lead or a chance to win, so to get one for the group, it means a lot for us, it galvanizes us.”

The All Blacks have more business to do in the north, heading to Dublin to take on Ireland before heading to France and Italy respectively.

Robertson knows his team will have to improve in many areas ahead of the Ireland test next weekend.

“We need to tidy up our discipline, some execution errors, but keep creating and being brave by volunteering to play. So it’s little small margins, but we’ve definitely got to be better.”

The lack of bench impact in the last quarter of the game has been a crucial talking point under Scott Robertson, but according to Robertson, the bench against England shifted the momentum.

“It’s nice to see them coming on and make an impact, even starting with Asafo Aumua coming on early in the piece for Codie (Taylor), Patrick Tuipulotu was exceptional and the scrum came on with the props, they swung a little bit of the momentum our way, and I was really pleased. 

“We couldn’t find a penalty out there until those couple of scrums, that changed the momentum quite quickly and got up the field, obviously the lineout and a couple of missed calls and things that went with it but it was definitely a little bit of a momentum swing for us,” Robertson told media after the 24-22 victory. 

The All Blacks head coach gives credit to England, who for large parts controlled the game.

“We knew England was gonna come out the back and try to tackle the second or third to last attacker, stop us getting to the edge and they did a great job for the majority of it. 

“You know they are a brave team in that department, they’re a hard team to play and a hard team to beat. 

“Hell of an atmosphere and a hell of an event.”