All Blacks legend bemoans two changes Scott Robertson did not make for Springboks clash
Former All Blacks number eight Murray Mexted and their head coach Scott Robertson.
Legendary New Zealand number eight Murray Mexted believes All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson has made the wrong changes for their clash with South Africa in Johannesburg on Saturday.
After suffering a shock defeat to Argentina in their Rugby Championship opener in Wellington, New Zealand bounced back with a bonus-point victory over Los Pumas in the corresponding fixture in Auckland a week later.
Following that impressive result, Robertson has made a couple of changes to his starting line-up with captain Scott Barrett returning after an injury lay-off to start in the second-row – with Sam Darry dropping down to the bench – while former skipper Sam Cane takes over from the injured Dalton Papali’i on the openside flank.
Wrong changes made
Despite those alterations, Mexted, who made 34 Test appearances for New Zealand between 1979 and 1985, feels there are two changes which Robertson should have made but did not do.
“So for me, I would have only made two changes to the team they announced. My two changes would have been, I think that Tupou Vaa’i is not tall enough to compete with the South African line-out,” he told The Platform. “Although in saying that, I see that they’ve lost their two biggest players, haven’t they?
“And Etzebeth will come on, there’s no doubt about it. Now, Etzebeth is six foot eight and a half.
“And Tupou Vaa’i is about 196 (centimetres), which is six foot five. So there’s a big difference in that. And when you’re playing at altitude, you’ve got to have a lot of possession.
“You’ve got to have your share of possession. So I would say that we will battle to get 50% in this game, 50% of possession. And at altitude, when you kick the ball, it goes a lot further.
“For those that don’t quite see that, because it’s significant, because that affects the style of game that you play.”
Apart from Vaa’i’s presence in the All Blacks’ run-on side, Mexted also feels Robertson made a mistake by keeping Rieko Ioane as his first-choice outside centre.
“The second change that I would have made, I would have changed a lock, one lock and the centre,” he added.
‘I think his distribution skills are outstanding’
“I would have picked (Anton) Lienert-Brown, because I think Lienert-Brown, when he plays, his wings score more tries. And I think his distribution skills are outstanding and he’s smart in his distribution game.
“So I would have liked to have seen him at centre.
“And maybe (Rieko) Ioane would have been on the wing, because Ioane’s a great player. I just don’t think his distribution skills are as good as Lienert-Brown’s. And that’s only a personal opinion.
“So it’s going to be a hell of a game. And in my view, the Boks are definitely favourites.”
