Razor's 2024 All Blacks Christmas wish list

The All Blacks head into 2025 probably with more questions than answers. 

First-year All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson quickly found out what it was like to be an International coach and now has the job of getting the most dominant rugby team of all time back on top of the pedestal.

Razor is likely enjoying some well-earned relaxing time at his beloved Mount Maunganui beach surfing and swimming, and getting back lost time with family over the festive period. 

But there are certainly some objectives he’s wishing for, or what some might call non-negotiables, for the All Blacks in 2025.

Springboks double

Razor’s number one Christmas wish will be the two games against the old foes in September.

Eden Park, Saturday September 6th. 

The biggest non-World Cup Test match the All Blacks will play for a very long time. When the World Champion Springboks make their way onto New Zealand’s home of rugby Eden Park, the Test will be a spine-tingling battle of history and passion with a 30-year record on the line. 

The All Blacks have to win that Test match. It doesn’t have to be pretty, there will be minimal attacking flow, lots of pressure-filled errors and many stoppages of play to calm the heart rate. But Robertson’s All Blacks must get over the line to prove they have what it takes to close out important Tests.

The Springboks have beaten the All Blacks four times in a row now, which is almost unprecedented territory for the men in black. Robertson won’t be satisfied with one home victory in 2025 against Rassie Erasmus’s team. He needs the Eden Park Test match for the record, but both to regain control of rugby’s fiercest and most storied rivalry.

Richie Mo’unga comeback

In 2024, Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett performed in the number 10 position to a solid standard. But there’s no denying that Robertson has a preferred first five for the All Blacks, one who’s currently playing in Japan on a three-year deal at the Toshiba Brave Lupus. 

The eligibility rule may not change this year, but for the last two years of the World Cup cycle before the 2027 World Cup in Australia, 30-year-old Mo’unga will certainly be Robertson’s number-one option going forward. 

Robertson’s continuous push for NZR to change the eligibility rule reinforces his trust in Mo’unga, or perhaps lack of confidence in Barrett and McKenzie as long-term options in the ten jersey.

France A-team

When a Dupont-less, understrength B-team French outfit heads over to Aotearoa in July for a highly anticipated series down under, nothing less than a 3-0 sweep will suffice for the All Blacks. 

But will that be enough for fans to give the credit a series win against France deserves? 

For Robertson and the team’s preparation for the South Africa Tests at home, the strength of the French team is vitally important. France won’t be a pushover, no matter which side they bring to New Zealand, which almost makes the B-team situation an even stickier one. 

Leaving star players who will be involved in the Top 14 final is understandable, but still, a kick in the guts knowing what could have been, if the series doesn’t live up to groundbreaking, box-office standards.

New number seven

You could say the deepest position of depth for the All Blacks is in the loose forwards. There’s depth in numbers, with multiple players capable of playing in different positions. 

As Sam Cane retires from International rugby, there becomes a free starting spot at number seven. 

It seems like the idea of Ardie Savea moving to openside flanker is no longer on the table, and World Breakthrough 15’s Player of the Year Wallace Sititi seems to have locked down the number six jersey.

So is the jersey Dalton Papali’i’s? He didn’t feature on the end-of-year Northern Tour due to an upper hamstring injury and has never quite solidified his starting place in a black jersey.

Peter Lakai’s future is bright; he was thrown in the deep end against France and performed magnificently in his first major Test match in the black jersey. He’s one for the future, but it’s still unclear who Razor’s preferred number seven is when Luke Jacobson, Papali’i, Lakai and others are all fit and raring to go, without Sam Cane in the mix.

Du’Plessis Kirifi has been phenomenal in the Bunnings NPC competition and for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby Pacific, his breakdown work and leadership on the field is screaming for higher honours.

Whoever Razor picks will face mountains of pressure, knowing multiple openside flankers are breathing down their neck.

Backline cohesion

The All Blacks aren’t the attacking force they once were and often lacked cohesion in 2024 with ball in hand. 

Robertson will be in desperate search of some consistency and fluency on attack, especially after former All Blacks Assistant coach Leon MacDonald left the role of attack coach following just four Test matches in 2024. 

Razor’s right-hand man, Scott Hansen has taken over the role of attack with Jason Holland, but we are yet to see the fruition of the expected evolution and implementation of the All Blacks attack under the new coaching regime. 

The All Blacks set-piece plays off scrums and lineouts in 2024 were one-dimensional and predictable. The ball would travel to Jordie Barrett at second five, who would throw a short pass to Rieko Ioane in traffic, frequently resulting in errors. 

That’s just one example, but there needs to be a clear progression in 2025, otherwise, questions about the attack under Robertson will persist into another year.