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Scott Robertson inspires the most belief in 'a long time' in All Blacks
By Ned Lester
Scott Robertson’s All Blacks are three from three after the opening month of Tests in the 2024 international season, a pass grade by any metric, but perhaps not quite as convincing as many fans were hoping for.
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One pundit who only had praise to sing after the Steinlager Ultra Low Carb Series was former All Blacks coach Laurie Mains.
Mains was sure Robertson would continue to grow the team after showing some key, promising attributes in the wins against England and Fiji, and professed his belief in Robertson’s vision for the team.
“Yes, I do (believe in Robertson), for two reasons. What he achieved with the Crusaders; I don’t care how good the players were or where they got their players from. It doesn’t matter. To win that championship seven times in a row is sensational. That makes me know that he’s going to get this All Blacks team performing at their best,” Mains told Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine following the San Diego win.
“What I saw was they had to fight like hell to win both of the Tests against England. And that just showed me that those players were totally committed to the team and that’s the first achievement for a coach, is to get his players totally committed to the team and to the gameplan.
“Each time they’ve played, you can see more about what they’re trying to achieve.
“That first Test against England I think would have been one of the hardest Test matches to play in. England were good. Defensively they were very aggressive and very strong. Then in that second Test, once Beauden (Barrett) came on it started to open up and he created opportunities.
“Against Fiji, we saw more of that shorter play. There were some beautifully constructed tries in that game.
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“So, I’m incredibly optimistic about where this team is going to go. The best I’ve felt for a long time.”
Robertson has stressed the desire for adaptability and ability to win games multiple ways since taking the helm of the All Blacks, and it’s fair to say the team beat two very different teams in July in very different ways.
While the opening stretch of any new leadership group is always going to throw different challenges and performances forward, Mains says Robertson needs to hit the ground running, noting while the next Rugby World Cup is three years away still, there is no time like the present to lay the foundations for the next cycle.
“The first two years of a World Cup cycle I think is where a coach and selectors really need to get a foundation and the basis of the team. It’s based on maybe the 10 best players, who are all automatic choices.
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“From them, you know what style of rugby you can best play. And then, you have to bring in players that complement the strength of those 10.”
Borthwick’s gameplan against the Boks in the semi-final was genius; it was executed to perfection and came within a whisker of success. That said, if Stewart had not stuck so rigidly to the plan, and kicked deep instead of an up an under which he knocked on, which lead to a scrum and winning penalty - England would have won. After a dismal start to the 6N, they beat Ireland and ran (admittedly a Dupont-less) France team close, and destroyed “Eddie-the-mouth” Brave Blossoms - it meant England arrived in NZ on a real up.
Nobody should not underestimate the immense pressure Razor, coaches and the team were under for the England series. The two wins over England were a true triumph, given the ABs had not played in 8 months, and had a completely new coaching setup (saying nothing about the retiring players, which is normal after a RWC cycle).
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Bringing in Hotham, Darry, Havili and Love (Lord as backup) is a good and obvious move. Cane, was not a surprise, but I still believe its a sentimental move - yes he brings experience and is a tough nut, I believe blooding Lakai or Iose would have served the long-term better.
While I feel sorry for Narawa, and think Havili is very lucky to get a berth given his SR form, I believe overall Razor’s squad for this year’s RC makes total sense.
Critically, from the 3 matches (and remember its only 3 games under new management), we can all see are some serious areas needing RAPID improvement.
Farrell, Galthié and Erasmus have over 50 tests in charge of their respective teams, and Borthwick has 20.
The England 2:0 series was a huge success for Razor et al, being 3:0 is a fantastic start. And while I expect the Pumas to bring some new challenges, the real and true test of whether Razor is going to be able to turnaround the ABs will come in SA.
While I am not expecting wins in SA; lets face it the Boks under Erasmus are a phenomenal package, so real hats off to Farrell and Ireland for a remarkable 2nd test victory. Razor needs at least 1 win to demonstrate England was not just luck.