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Scott Robertson: England can expect new and improved All Blacks

Cam Roigard scores the All Blacks try. Photo by Koki Nagahama/Getty Images

While England last took the field in New Zealand’s rugby cathedral of Eden Park, the Kiwis have, on the other hand, had a busy international season developing under new head coach Scott Robertson.

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Three and a half months separate the first two Tests between the historic heavyweights and the upcoming rematch, offering the Kiwis a chance to prove how much they’ve developed over a rocky Rugby Championship.

New faces will likely be unleashed after missing the earlier Tests, with players like Wallace Sititi and Cortez Ratima earning favour already in their rookie seasons.

Will Jordan and Cam Roigad missed the July series through injury but may well find themselves back in the matchday 23 next weekend, while the likes of Samipeni Finau and Stephen Perofeta look likely to watch from the sidelines after failing to demand selection since starting against the English.

Dalton Papali’i, Ethan Blackadder and Luke Jacobson will also miss the rematch through injury while Finlay Christie missed selection for the squad altogether. Mark Tele’a and Sevu Reece also started against England earlier in the year but will likely be competing for the No. 23 jersey at best thanks to the form of Jordan and Caleb Clarke.

Beyond an individual perspective, New Zealand have now had 10 Tests in 2024 to find their feet in a new system under the new guard of coaches, giving them little excuse for anything other than a win after claiming victory in both July Tests.

“They’ll obviously still be match fit, a lot of their players a playing in the Premiership, that’s a great comp and they’ll be ready,” the coach said of England with a grin at the airport in Tokyo.

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“They’ve been under Steve (Borthwick) for a while now. It seems a long time ago since we played them, a lot can happen in between that.

“We’re playing good footy, they’re playing a little bit more footy than they have before so it’s going to be an exciting week.”

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The boot is on the other foot after an England squad at the end of a gruelling season landed in New Zealand looking to build on both the Rugby World Cup and Six Nations campaigns against a team who hadn’t played in eight months.

Now, it’s New Zealand looking to capitalise on recent results while the English are just generating their first traces of momentum.

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The rust of a new season was expected to play against Robertson and company, not helped by the introduction of the new leadership with new ideas. With the bulk of an international season in their pocket, Razor says England can expect a new and improved All Blacks team.

“We’ve been on tour a few times, we’ve experienced some different environments and we’re a lot more connected and understanding of our game, so we were in a good spot.” 

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Comments

4 Comments
L
Lulu 25 days ago

Worried about this English team. They did not role over in NZ. They going to be a different beast at home.

Still have not seen Razor stamp his blueprint over this team. It feels as though he has gone into his shell and forgotten what's made him such a great coach at franchise level.

D
DS 25 days ago

Playing out of cosy, spoon-fed Christchurch is not the same as the international scene; where no favors are given, no tame refs supplied. Different ball game.

B
BA 26 days ago

Def ABs are an improved side since start of year with next 3 weeks are def very like WC 1/4 semi final …if they can get win this WE would big tick

L
Longshanks 26 days ago

If Jordan starts at fullback , how will Tele'a and Reece be competing for the #23 jersey at best?

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Hellhound 17 minutes ago
France put World Cup pain behind them with unbeaten run in November

France is starting to look like they are finally over their WC headache, although they were lucky that NZ had a very bad game. The Argies as usual is one game good, the next bad. If they can sort that out and be more consistent, they could become contenders for the WC.


NZ, Argentina (if they are more consistent), and now the Wallabies too is in an upward curve (can they be consistent?), as well as Fiji(as inconsistent as Argentina) looks like possible contenders. The Boks will be as usual a huge threat to defend their title. Things are looking up for the South, so the North should rightfully beware of the Southern Hemisphere threat.


With the French looking dangerous, the English with their close runs (mostly a mindset problem) and the Scottish seems to be the NH main contenders. The Irish is good, but not excellent anymore. They are more overbearing and with their glory days mostly gone with old players hanging on by a thread, by 2027 if they don't start adding in the younger players, they won't make it past yet another WC Quarter final. The problem is that their youngsters, while good is nothing special.


That is just 8 teams without the Irish that can become real WC contenders. Lots of hickups to be sorted still for these teams, excluding the Boks to become a threat. Make no mistake, the top Tier is much closer than people realise and the 2027 WC will be a really great WC, possibly the best contended WC ever.

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