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Despite some positives Razor's first Rugby Championship was a failure
By Ben Smith
The nation’s capital was in a celebratory mood as a calm and mildly warm night welcomed the All Blacks in Wellington. They finished their first Rugby Championship under new head coach Scott Robertson on a high with a pleasing 33-13 win over Australia.
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Despite the festive atmosphere of Sam Cane’s farewell tour and a more complete showing in the final Bledisloe, the first Rugby Championship under Razor will go down in the books as a failure despite having plenty of positives.
With three losses from six games the All Blacks gave up the title for the first time since 2019, something not even embattled former coach Ian Foster managed. They retained all key trophies against the traditional southern hemisphere rivals from 2020-2023.
To ignore this failing from Robertson is disrespectful to Foster, given the criticism the latter endured. In the interest of fairness, Robertson must take that on the chin. He’s done what Foster didn’t.
If the All Blacks had decided to roll the dice and build for the future during this campaign, the results would be understandable. Blood the best young talent and begin a rebuild for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
But Scott Robertson and his staff did not do that. They continued a theme from the England series, which was picking experienced veterans and players on reputation in order to win now. That itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It shows a respect for the jersey and puts value on All Black caps.
But when you opt to win now and don’t, it must be considered below par.
The team was in a position to win every single game and coughed up half of them. Up 20-8 against Argentina in Wellington, up 27-17 over South Africa in Johannesburg and up 13-12 late in Cape Town.
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New Zealand lifted Sam Cane to 100 Tests with a swan song tour, starting him for the last four Tests in a row despite no visible long-term plan at openside. In Wellington he looked past it, conceding line breaks and making errors. Despite Cortez Ratima showing his immense potential in Sydney, they gave TJ a hometown sendoff and reinstated him as the starter. His performance was erratic to say the least.
Aaron Smith took over the starting job at 23. Dan Carter was 23 during the 2005 Lions tour. We knew that Cortez Ratima had more to offer just by watching him at the Chiefs. Instead it was TJ Perenara and Finlay Christie to start the year against England.
It is a little surprising to see the All Blacks become so sentimental. Clearly Cane and Perenara mean a lot to the team and have given everything to the jersey over the years. It’s not to say they are underserving of having such a moment, it’s to say that this isn’t what made the All Blacks the All Blacks.
We are told that no one owns the jersey. Some of the best players this country has produced have been cut a day early rather than a day too late. And they certainly don’t get pushed to milestones. Maybe this is the new way. Sweetheart sabbatical deals and farewell tours for our favourite All Blacks. The last of the 2015 World Cup winners get to stay on as long as possible.
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Players who were largely absent in Super Rugby, either through injury or on sabbatical, were the cornerstone of this team.
Only a couple of the selections from this group were consistently exceptional, namely Codie Taylor and Beauden Barrett. Ardie Savea hit his straps against Australia returning to some of his best work, but in hindsight, he seemed undercooked to start the international season. It was a similar story for Will Jordan who missed the entire Super Rugby season.
Super Rugby cannot be blamed for this Rugby Championship campaign because half the All Black starting team were not involved in it.
The young players who were given a decent chance to start, Wallace Sititi, Tupou Vaa’i due to Patrick Tuipulotu’s injury, Cortez Ratima, were some of the best performers. Which raises the question, how good could this All Blacks team have been with more form players from Super Rugby?
With Peter Lakai at seven over Cane? With Billy Proctor in over Rieko Ioane? With Ratima over Perenara for the entire Championship? Hoskins Sotutu? Ruben Love? Xavier Numia?
Had a younger team produced the same results, at least they would be a year down the development track ahead of 2027. Instead, the All Blacks tried to win here and now and didn’t, with a number of players who won’t be there in 2027.
In Robertson’s own words he’s said his job is to create depth and competition in the squad. Yet he’s starting players he knows won’t even be here next year, let alone 2027. It’s hard to see how that is achieving his own objective.
We know Robertson has close ties to the Crusaders players and expected some favouritism. Still, after the club finished ninth in Super Rugby, it isn’t a good look when George Bell and Chay Fihaki are drafted in, even if they are just there to hold tackle bags.
At times during the Rugby Championship, Crusaders players held the most starting selections of any New Zealand club while the title-winning Blues had just two. Purely based on Super Rugby results, that meant the All Blacks would by extension be average.
Much has been made of the All Blacks losing their ‘aura’ and standing in the international game. But it could be said that most of the drop-off this year has been self-inflicted, picking undercooked players coming back from injury, ignoring form Super Rugby players and using Japan-based veterans who didn’t get the job done.
It’s on the coaches to back the players that are here, that are young, and that are in form. It is New Zealand’s greatest resource and it will keep providing gems like Wallace Sititi. There are more of them out there.
The All Blacks can always be better. New Zealand has never had an issue with playing talent and it is no different now.
Which is why Robertson’s first Rugby Championship will go down as a failure. It was very much winnable and they came up short.
Watch the highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2, chronicling the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, free on RugbyPass TV (*unavailable in Africa)
Hamish Bidwell and Ben Smith are the only two NZ journalists worth reading on rugby, the rest are just soft endorsers of the official NZ Allblacks social media influencers team.
I strongly disagree however that Ardie had a good game against the Wallabies and was shocked at his final tackle which if unpicked will show a conceded try on the line against the small Wallaby seven and non dominant, inconsequential tackles.
His stat on metres gained isnt just well behind Sititi's but will also show a lot of possession to gain nothing of significance in line busts with a lot of it struggling in the tackle going nowhere slowly.
This is actually ideal for teams defending against the Allblacks as just like in league all that time wasted where he's not offloading is time for the defence to set itself.
Savea was marginally better than Cane but they along with Perenara looked well past their highlights reels. To be fair it's not their faults, they've been outstanding in the past.
It was so long ago that Cane thrashed the Irish at home physically and they were bitter.
The sentimentality if Razor combined with the inflated presence of marginal Crusaders like a Bell, Havili, Fihaki, Reece was in the end too much for the Allblacks to overcome against the Boks.
Sadly, this was why we've managed to lose more under Razor than the average Foster. Truth about the Boks is they generally tune up between world cups and turn up for them. They've for the first time in a long time been handed the trophy by the AB's mismanagement rather than won it.
NZ rugby had rocks in their head not appointing Joe Schmidt to head coach and Razor told it was assistant or nothing. Razor hopefully names a far better squad to tour the UK. The opensides need to be Dalton and Lakai.
Cane and Perenara should be at home watching and Savea shifted to impact off the bench. He is 100 percent guaranteed to not be anywhere as good as he is now in 2027 which is already a faded version, he certainly won't make the squad and absolutely ensure that he wouldn't by deciding to go play for the worst side in Super rugby.
I think Robertson played Cane over a younger loose forward for two strategic reasons:
1. Mentorship/experience for younger players
2. To get buy in to the team for the existing squad members. A lot of the squad left over from the Foster era highly respect Cane and if Robertson had come in like a wrecking ball and cut them out it may have been harder to get buy in from non-crusaders players like Ardie, Beauden etc.
Robertson knows that if there's a time to be nostalgic, its now rather than closer to the world cup. So he used this season to give some older players their send off and use their experience to transition the next generation, but come closer to the world cup we know he will be more cut throat. Remember he had no hesitation cutting established players like Crockett when it came to the knockouts and the crunch time.
True, but I still suggest it was a failure not to go with 2 loosies on the bench and be subbing out Cane after 50 minutes. Acheives all those points and more handling the situation that way.
I have to agree with the writer that this RC was a lost opportunity and mostly a failure. Selecting players past their best, others out of position, and a crudely obvious preference for Crusader players all point to a disappointing start to the Robertson era. I was keen to see what innovations this coaching group would bring after very average Foster years but the lack of courage in selections and poor game plan and execution (struggling with rush D, lack of accuracy and inability to close out games with meager points in the 3rd and 4th quarters) have the alarm bells ringing. The forced selections were again the most successful (just like Ryan "discovering" DeGroot and Lomax and rescuing Foster) and point to luck rather than selection. Hardly confidence boosting.
Are you saying you would have been happy to treat these trophies like most other nations, with much less importance than building for the World Cup every four years?
If the difference between Foster & Robertson is losing their first RC and winning their RWC; then I'll take it! Calm down doubters.
The first year after RWC is always going to he hard. The fact the All Blacks are blooding in some new exciting talent is encouraging.
If the All Blacks have a a majority fitted lineup by late '25, early '26, then would suggest peaking at the right time.
Look forward to seeing who are the contenders.
That just sounds like a different form of criticism rather than support. I'd suggest what Razors thoughts were had far less to do with 2027 than even you suggest here.
Hard for them than anybody else? He just wants to win every game regardless. He's basically said it out right. If that's to the detriment of the WC in 2027, so be it.
AB's didn't do too badly considering finishing second when they were clearly the 2nd worst team in the tourney. Argentina deserves to be ahead of the AB's in rankings. So in essence the 4th best team came in 2nd. By year end the dodgy ranking system should adjust to be more reflective of the actual state of world rugby
I think Canterbury hooker George Bell vindicated his selection with the chances he got. He has long been seen as a big prospect since he came from Otago and joined the Crusaders. Disagree with the Author there.
I think the wins and losses have to be put into context - let's not forget, 2 of them were very close games in South Africa against a team that is currently being described as the greatest team of all time.
His main fail has been selection - he's been very pragmatic with his selections and strategy which is a valid tactic, but I think it has just lead to a continuation of the frailties of the Foster era. The Arg loss and Aus comebacks this year were very familiar to previous season upsets - essentially mental skills breakdown at the end of the games. That's something he can shed with better selections.
In terms of developing depth - he has developed Vaai and Williams into international-level players, introduced new test-ready players in pivotal positions with Sititi and Ratima, and appears to be developing guys like Proctor and Tosi well.
Hopefully we see a more progressive selection policy for the EOYT guys like Lakai, and Numia in as well as some true bolters
Agree, the picture on the field looks really good, but there is a part of me that asks how bad were South Africa? I know they had a lot of errors, and problems in general, against Ireland, but where they really as bad then as what they were in these two games? I mostly mean their rush defence seems to be shocking this year without that coach that was toured here with England instead. Those first two or three tries in JHB were absolute gifts. Those two games look a lot scary if you take away a large part of the AB dominance.
Foster's winning record in the TRC includes 2020 when South Africa didn't play. The All Blacks under Foster played only 2 games in the Republic winning one. I'm not sure which Crusaders Ben Smith thinks played poorly this year but I thought Scott Barrett was probably the weakest of the bunch. Apart for Sotutu which Blues does Ben Smith think would have made a difference? Ta'avao? Christie? A number of the blues players Robertson selected were injured at different times during TRC, Tuipolutu, Papali'i, Perofeta. While Tu'ungafasi and Tele'a hardly made a positive impressions. Love was also injured while Numia has only just came back from injury in the NPC.
It is a failure but arguing that the form super rugby players would have made a massive difference is a stretch. The AB's played arguably their best and most experienced players in each position in order to win the championship and did not. Would you have selected another winger over Jordan because he was underdone? Clarke, Reece and Telea were best in class. Should Barrett have not been selected? Ioane, ALB and Jordie are also best in class in NZ and the most experienced centres NZ have. The front and second row performed very well so what would you change in them? Can you drop Ardie given his CV and achievements? Sure Dalton could have played instead of Cane and Jacobson could have had more of a chance but the loose forwards did their job and would the others have made a difference? Perenara was in hot form during Super Rugby was he not? The only other option was finlay christie but would he have made the big bang necessary? Mckenzie was erratic at 10 but was there anyone else in SR that could have made a big difference?
I mean personally I would answer yes to a few of those questions (Narawa, ENS, Nareki, no Barrett).
A lot of what he did, good and bad, was injury enforced however. He pretty much had to play Beauden. They lost Arg1 so didn't rotate for 2 etc. He was left only with Sititi, and Cane (at times, to partner Ardie) as choices.
You can't drop Ardie because it's in the sabbatical that people return to hold the same position they left at. Could he have been subsequently dropped or was it also in the contract that they're allowed a few tests to get back up to speed (which he did)?
I'd imagine the concepts (from the author) are much broader and more basic than those questions, yours are more contentious than what I picture his as, Barrett>Dmac, Fakatava>TJ, Love>Jordan, Proctor>Ioane, Sotutu>Ardie, etc etc would be what I imagine is his head driving he pen. Easier to dismiss that extreme argument of changing house than the questions you raise imo, though I'm definitely in agreement with your point that there will be a lot of good reasons for making the tight calls they did make.
Great article Ben Smith, saying it like it is - failure. All Black standard is winning consistently and keeping the trophy cabinet full. None of that was achieved and we lost cups that good old Fozzie even won. Enough would've, could've, should've from the Crusader supporters on here, all keen to make excuses for their messiah, you can't surf or break dance your way out of this one. His winning record is rubbish, his selections inconsistent and sentimental and his development policy random.
With England, Ireland and France to come, we could be visiting uncharted territory, an All Black coach sacked after one season.
Reuben Thorne, Reuben Thorne, Reuben Thorne....
Wasn't he just saying it was a failure because they didn't accept they were going to lose and so should have been blooding more players? That it was a failure because they gained no knowledge about who has the potential and who doesn't?
Rueben Thorne was selected by no less than 4 different All Black coaches, starting with renowned Cantabrian John Hart. His value may not have been widely appreciated by all but those in charge definitely did.
They wont sack him no matter what happens. The expectation is he will win 8 or 9 this year. If he was to lose to Italy or Japan this year then maybe talk about the sack but for now its premature. Razor is the only option they have after sacking foster like they did. To sack Razor they would have to shell out huge amounts of cash and they wont do that
The inclusion of Peranara and Cane made sense on paper I think - experienced players to mentor some of the younger guys.
But in reality they have not been high performers in the team for a number of years, and they aren't exactly wily or canny operators. TJ is a loud mouth who referees must hate and makes a lot of basic errors, and Sam Cane is ponderous and obvious, and not exactly a master of the dark arts - More likely to shoulder someone in the head right in front of the referee than subtly place himself somewhere that is illegal but invisible to make the opposition's job hard - the ABs have constantly been on the receiving end of such skulduggery at the hands of France and SA, with very little ability to counter it, draw the referee's attention to it, or administer it themselves.
The frustrating thing is that Sititi proved what you can get when you pick a young guy in red hot form. It definitely makes you wonder what could have been if more of these players were selected in the squad ahead of incumbents who were coming back from injuries or longer lay offs who were clearly under cooked. It seems crazy that the form players from SR were left out to make way for incumbents to work their way back to fitness while starting for the ABs!
Well Sititi would have had to do a lot of other work on D if say Sotutu had been given the 8 jersey, etc, etc. But yes, I suppose that did make you wonder a bit.
It's a misnomer that the All Blacks had people of dark arts ability in any form of recency, but again, everything you said is true. Not that accepting the criticism means I think that should change though.
i wouldnt call it a failure and wouldnt call it a success but even as they won three and lost three. breaking the wellington hodo something foster couldnt do
“The All Blacks will never have an issue with playing talent”…that’s your exact issue mate. Compare your current crop to the form team you had from 2011-2015. Have you replaced McCaw, Kaino and Read as a loose trio? Not even close. Nonu and smith and centres? Not even close. Prime Retallick and Whitelock? Not even close. These are key positions where you currently just don’t have the cattle. That’s not to say you don’t have really good players there…but there’s a difference between really good players and greats. You’re trying to compete with the Springboks who have players like Etzebeth and PSDT and Kolbe and Marx and Nche…it’s a different level. Nothing a coach can do to change that quickly. Super Rugby is dead and it’s killing NZ rugby.
I think his point would most likely have been (didn't read it myself) that the players don't need to be at McCaw/Kaino/Read level?
He would also be saying that they do have the cattle, they are just not obviously going to be immediately at those levels, they would need to build/develop in those positions first. Though Ben Smith rarely says things of sense, I think even he might admit they don't have 'multiple prime cattle ready for the block at any one time', like you seem to be implying he was saying.
This would of course be where - and this happens every time - he would be contradicting himself by not given Razor the opportunity to make replacements for each of these players from the cattle he has. Though he would just say that NZR should buy them back from overseas if there was a place that needed filling (I'm pretty sure he's actually just pro bring them back into the All Blacks for nothing).
I'm sure you do have an argument somewhere, but at any given time Barrett, Savea, Jordan, Lomax, and Taylor, outclass that group. I wouldn't want to continue on with name battles as they might drop off suddenly however.
Excellent article except that BB was not anywhere near to "consistently exceptional"...more like 5-6 ratings. Cody was a top performer. In addition to Ardie, Scott B also looked undercooked until Saturday
Ben, where is your article on the Boks game? Waiting? Must admit at times the way the Boks played was up there with some of the best rugger I have seen and reminded me of the ABs in their absolute glory days. Have been saying for a while, the day the Boks start to pass and play like that they will be scary, and they now have the cattle to be play like that.
If you think Ben Smith can’t find a way to rage bait Bok supporters even after a dominant Bok performance, then you don’t know Ben Smith.
Yeah Koble reminds my of Rokocoko. The midfield. What was that no look backflick from Am, like wtf!
Not often, in fact never, have I agreed with BS articles. But he is spot on here. The balance of the ABs is still not right. Loose forwards are not right, and Ardie is the issue. And bending sentimental to Cane was a waste. Balance of locks still clunky and in Sam Darry they have a proper lock. Still don’t decide on best fullback, alternate wings, Reiko just doesn’t pass well enough, and they miss a real flyhalf. And NZ has plenty of the right back line players, Razor just needs to pick them and trust them. Maybe the media and the supporters are so critical of any loss or change to their beloved ABs that the coaching staff fear of failure stops them doing the right thing. But well written Ben.
Agreed GG.
Ben, you forgot to include a comparison on how well the Springboks have done this past season developing their next generation of players this past season, so I have made one for you -
Gerhard Steenekamp
Ntuthuko Mchunu
Andre-Hugo Venter
Johan Grobbelaar
Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Salmaan Moerat
Ruan Nortje
Evan Roos
Elrigh Louw
Ruan Venter
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Jordan Hendrikse
Quan Horn
Morne van den Berg
Edwill van der Merwe
Players that lost out on test caps due to injury-
Cameron Hanekom
Henco van Wyk
Suleiman Hartzenberg
Sanele Nohamba
By the way Ben, you also forgot to mention that in the 2024 season to date the Springboks have played 10 tests and won 8 including The Rugby Championship, all achieved while playing B and C teams and not their best players all the time.
I wonder if Razor would ever have picked Jan Hendrik Wessels for a game, let alone into the ABs squad. Watch the development of this kid. In 2031 he will be like Malcolm Marx or even better. Serious talent, and Rassie is prepared to invest. Ethan Hooker will be next cab on the block. Another proper youngster. Razor needs to invest in guys to get to 2027 and be ready
Look, everyone knows it's hard on South Africa, but New Zealand doesn't have their player fatigue problems. They have a good offseason and can go full noise while theyre playing.
Those names don't really mean much to anyone outside of South Africa. Would have made much more sense to give stats like number of players used and the average minutes they have.
While too lazy to look at NZs data, I'd say they are of international quality about
4 props deep either side
3 hookers
not much more than 2 locks deep either side
3 deep in every loosie position
5 halfbacks to the good
just a couple of 10's
four international 12's
can only think of 3 tried centers
wings a very thin, though a number of fullbacks that can player there
That is really about as much depth as you would want in a side before you start thinning things out too much. Just the notable key areas that are a bit thin, good form wingers, and some tall timber, though most of these have players returning to NZ to shore up those areas. Of course theres a number of players that I personally don't want to be there, but I'm sure you have a few names in your own list.
This is only from 'this' season though, 9 games, not past season.
In 2011, NZ won the RWC with their 5th choice 1st 5. The guy had been out fishing a few days before the final, came in and slotted the winning penalty. Don't you worry about the All Blacks ability to build depth, they invented the term. 💪
Nah they are all crap.
I think you’re mistaking this platform for a place where facts matter.
I dont always like what ben has to say, but he is spot on. At best we moved sideways this year, but in reality that is optimistic.
And the move to bring back bb at 1st 5 is the dumbest of all. He had years to prove his ability in the position under foz and failed to do so. He is not suited to this role at this level. Same as dmac. Test rugby is an arm wrestle not suited to these two, who are really very similar in their skill set. Sums it up really. I am at a loss really. Did Scotty do so well with the crusaders simply because of the aura and the ability to attract the best talent to chch. Sadly I feel no connection to what this team has become. All Scotty does now is whinge about not selecting overseas players. Just feels like a anticipatory excuse. Even he doesn't believe in his all black team.
Bruv!! Surf Jesus ain’t quite Surf Jesus’d it quite like we were expecting, but he was required to win every game and to do that you need cohesion, so he couldn’t go swanning in with the axe and make all the heads roll.
Easy to look back after 9 games to say what he should have done, even easier to blame everything on selection.
That said, yes he’s pizzed about and run out of time and now we’re heading for Europe with these old and out of form players who seem maddeningly undroppable unless the rugby gods take pity and smite one of them with an injury.
Then we get Sititi and Va’i and Cortez coming through.
They will get better bro, they have the athletes to scrap out anyone.
Im not sure how many tests Foster coached but in 4 years Inc a WC id guess around 58. Mounga played almost every test of that 58 at 10. How could BB prove himself when NOT playing at 10? Your comment around that is very innaccurate. Just prior to Mounga going to 10 BB ahd played the 16 and 17 seasons at 10 and was POTY both years. Keep whinging tho that always works.
Should have just blooded all the new boys, clean slate, results be damned,
Like Eddie Jones did last year….
Exactly. Trying to build something like Joe Schmidt is doing would give you the worst results. Wat kind of hair brained idea is that!
Auckland players please no,them and the Chiefs are the problem only look good when it's easy.
Looks like it must have been easy right thru the semi's to the final eh.
Yes let's drop Ratima and Sititi!
There are some good points made in this article. It was a waste of time putting Sam Cane and TJ Perenara in this series. Ethan Blackadder was in great form and when available again re the last Test should have been selected. Cortez Ratima and Noah Hotham had both been in great form , yet Perenara was given the Golden Hurra. Reiko Ioane always at 13 is not right.
You exclude the experienced and 'glue' players like TJ, Cane, Beauden, Ardie and you might not get these results which have shown that something is missing at the death because they weren't able to get to that position, or that it could have easily been laid at the feet of inexperienced people.
We would have been in this same position, just next year if that had happened. Now we know that something is wrong with the game plan or environment, as it happened with or without Beauden, TJ, Ethan, or Cane.
Those guys can wait, they're young, so if they're good enough they will still be build just from what they have experienced. Proctor might be the debatable example.
Nonsense, the Covid TRC era was mostly a joke. The Boks were absent 2020, barely there in 2021, sent "B" teams to some tests in 2022, & focused on RWC in 2023 when TRC was in short form.
Also, by this point, Foster's ABs had drawn with & lost to AUS. All off the back of Foster's 8 years experience as a test level coach & with elite players like Whitelock, Retallick, Aaron Smith, Mounga, Fritzell, on hand. Luckily for Foster he didn't face ENG & RSA early. It would've been a bloodbath imo.
He was saddled with Mounga. That meant he was never going to win much above 70%. That proved to be correct in the end.
I was hoping and expecting to see more of Procter, Love, Lakai et al by now but nah. I'm no coach and most certainly not an expert, just a person whinging about the selection choices from their couch. But I am disappointed that we haven't seen a whole herd of fresh talent waddling across the paddock by now (and Bell and Fihaki aren't the ones I want to see). What is it exactly that we are waiting for? Why not have mediocre results and some new dudes blooded, rather than just the former. I'm a Razor fan but some of the comments he has made in recent times has suggested that the learning curve has been a vertical one and the lack of international experience is showing. I think he needs a season to settle in but I am also a very impatient person so I am on the see-saw between 'FFS, what are you coaches even doing?!' and 'Be reasonable, give the man some time!' For the love of god, I hope that we see some good and positive things come out of the NH games.
It's hard to imagine what was gained by playing Cane ahead of Lakai in particular. As expected he gave away yellow card for a high tackle, missed a number of tackles and looked exactly like he had spent most of the previous 3 months injured rather than playing high level rugby, which he had been.
The tricky thing for Proctor is that he is up against the current generation, not the past. Jordie and Reiko are 27, and 100% in contention for the next world cup based purely on age. The 27 World Cup could be their absolute prime, and they are extremely good defensively as a combo. Reiko's D is a hugely underestimated part of game which alone could make him hard to dislodge from the team.
Many thought he would clean house. I would think seeing more of Aumua, Tamaiti, Newell, Tosi, Darry, even Vaa'i, Sititi, Ratima, Perofeta, Clarke, would be more than enough for the excitment of fans of a new team. You've also got one off games from Hotham, Proctor, Narawa, Patrick, Finau. It sounds like you're just picking favourites Jen, theres always going to be disappointment at that game.
It changed when Foster and Schmidt pulled the team together for the RWC I believe. They showed many from that team were quality All Blacks, and Razor continued to believe they were beneficial. I would say I am about 85% happy with selections, and about 65-70% happy with their implementation by the coaches.
Certainly the most disappointing thing has been his application of the role externally. I had no idea he was like this, is he really including himself when he says they're learning what it requires to win test foot? He played in one of the best AB teams FFS! Or is he just using pandering words that don't tell you anything about where they think they're at?
All comes down to money, to many long term contacted players makes it harder to contract new younger talent. Once the use by date ones have moved along, results will happen.
So Razor is a failure because he didnt win the RC but Foster did eh. Well a small, ( and I mean small ) check told me that both Hansen, and Henry lost the RC twice. Once to Aus and once to SA, each. Looks like Razor is going ok and I dont ever remember a tougher draw for the ABs than this year. By the end of the year the ABs will have played 1 V France, 1 v Ireland and 1 v England, in a 12 day period, at their homes. They will have also played 2 move v England in NZ. They have also played SA twice in SA. So thats 5 tests v top sides away and 2 more at home. Then there is Arg of course who are ranked 6 and playing so well they had wins v Aus, SA and NZ.
Im seeing the planning, the intent and the selections starting to take shape. Next year will be their year to show where they are as this year is a massive development year.
RE B.cup2,
ABs, finally an 80min performance. Back to where they were when Foster handed them over to Razor?? No way, get real, that is 1 80min game out of 9 so far this season. & that was V 10th ranked team in the world.
The biggest failure is the lack of new AB development. That would have made losses so much more worthy.
As Tuipulotu, Cane, Roigard & TJ were 1st picks when available all season there’s nothing to say the same won’t be the case for the Nth tour. So the big question is what's been developed for the hardest AB Nth tour in history??? Yes, Aumua, Tosi, Sititi. But now only V Japan to do the others needed, i.e. alot!
{starters}
1 {Williams} / Tu’ungafasi &?- nil back up has been run
2 {Taylor}/ Aumua &?- nil back up has been run
3 {Lomax}/ Tosi &?- nil
4,5 Locks {Vaa’I, S.Barrett ] P.Tuipulotu &?- just micro time for Barry
6,7,8 Loose forwards { Sititi, A.Savea } &?- perpetually injured Blackadder but nil SR star H.Sotutu
9 {Roigard } & Ratima & - chatty TJ. Covered
10 D.McK & BB &?- just micro time for Barry
12 & 13 ALB R. Ioane &?- just micro time for SR star Proctor but zero SR performer Havili run!!
14 Reece &? - zero time for SR star Narawa
11 {C.Clarke} / &?- Tele’a's slower & VERY low impact
15 {W.Jordan} & J&B.Barrett
Its way too late & the real Robertson failure but V Japan MUST be STARTING game time & development for,
(2)Aumua, (3)Tosi, (4)Barry, (5)Tuipulotu, (8)Sititi, (6)Sotutu, (9)Ratima (10)Plummer, (13)Proctor, (14) Narawa, (15) Stevenson.
Yes even if bizarrely not squad members.
But instead we get chat about, you guessed it, 9th ranked SR Crusaders family, Fihaki, Havili, Fainga’anuku, Bell, perpetually injured Blackadder and, no joke, Noah Hotham (watch his show in Fiji game & that Crusaders SR circus ).
In a NZR review Robertson needs to be told exactly as per this article. Management, selection & results failure. Immediate improvement of HIS, & gang, performance needed.
SR success as anyone awake new pre his appointment, irrelevant. But the delusional chat about Crusaders call ups show he's stuck in the past.
Here we go … wait for it … the Razor Occult excuses (ie apparently such win’y ... but now whinny folk)
Playing poorly at the beginning does not equal an 80 minute performance. Just because the game was tight the hole way does not mean they were better.
Plus Darry, Ratima, Perofeta, and Dmac.
From your list it just seems like you are unhappy with the 'micro' time. That I can agree with, he should not have kept guys on for the whole game. That was one of his many poor failings. I think I have squad selection balance (really on his idea of how that will work than his own selections), not playing to players strengths (wrong kicking strategy for the wrong wings etc), no game day hot mic involvements (didn't see any comms going out and poor sub use as pointed out), media, and a small portion for not enough ingenuity to do without starting Beauden, Ardie, Blackadder, when injuries struck for the most part. There are probably some tactical things I have forgotten, and there are some I'm not going to expect development in until they have more time.
This article is terrible, I know it, you know, everyone knows it. It's by Ben Smith.
Well you have so much wrong I actually dont know where to start. Lets look at your list. 1...DeGroet. 2 Bell with Samisini injured. 3 Newell. 4-5 Darry. 6-8 Jacobson, Finau, 9...Well covered. 10 Perofeta 12-13...JB ( how did you not include him at 12? ) 111 and 14...Plenty really. 15. DM.
As for the Sotutu comment well he aint seting the world alight at NPC level but Sititi has well and truely taken his spot.
As a Chiefs fan I can see where the team is developing. Give it time.
So you’ve changed the tune somewhat benny boy!!!
Time for a taste of your own medicine now…😉😂
Once again Smith pushes his favourite BB. "exceptional" he says. Please show me when because all I saw was bang average. Plenty of mistakes throughout and nothing great of note. We need to move on from him.
I only skimmed over a bit of this but he's talking about comparing TRCs? Would have been nice to see some data, some information, and table or two with stats, because I'd feel that multiple of Fosters TRCs have worst stats than this one.
The one failure that makes this a B (possibly B- i'm just thinking of this now) is that they didn't appear up for it and ready for Argentina. Is this Razor not realizing the failures (difficulties with this group of players) of Fosters era and putting enough things in place, or was it despite a concerted effort by staff to get them ready the same group of players (as couldn't backup wins under Foster) were lazy and most importantly, not able to switch on and but things right within the 80 minutes?
I think it’s a ‘Holy-moly-this-job-is-different-and-harder-than-I-thought’ thing.
Hindsight is never wrong.
I’ve faith in Surf Jesus, he’ll get there, but not with the 85% win record the country requires.
Completely agree. As a lifelong AB fan, I would have coped better losing with a team that was in growth phase, using young players, than losing the way we did. They talk about Sititi, Ratima etc playing so well, maybe that's because new, young players are excited, full of fire, wanting to prove they are worthy of the job. A huge developmental chance lost, with eff all to show for it.
As an Irish fan I can tell you we said the same thing about Andy Farrell in 2020 when it seemed nothing was going right, same again early in 2021 and then it picked up, sometimes it takes time, he’s still getting used to the job and he needs to be given some slack, every All Blacks coach for a long time now have been promoted from within the setup unlike Robertson, give him a proper go, he’ll never get you playing like the crusaders on the international stage but he could be a breath of fresh air as he finds his feet and reinvigorates the playing style and renews the team gradually
I'd prefer them winning each, and all, of those games.
What makes you think the chance is lost?
Yep, and the person to display the most limitations was Robertson - poor choice of Assistants, lack of courage in selecting the next generation and naive use of the bench. Apart from selecting a few good young players, Robertson's main achievement was to upgrade Foster's image.