All Blacks: Scott Robertson reveals where he will play ‘world-class’ Will Jordan
Split with All Blacks boss Scott Robertson and Will Jordan.
All Blacks head coach Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson revealed that he sees Will Jordan primarily as a full-back but admits the star’s versatility is “critical”.
Jordan has been named in the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship squad having spent the entire season out with a shoulder injury, with his last game for New Zealand coming in the 2023 World Cup final.
Position change at Test level?
The prolific try-scorer came through the Crusaders system when Robertson was at the helm of the side and the coach deployed Jordan mainly at full-back. But on the Test scene he has had very limited minutes in the 15 shirt, playing mostly on the wing.
That could well change with Robertson underlining how he sees Jordan, however, the coach admits with Beauden Barrett’s form the Crusader will need to hit the ground running.
“He’s a full-back that can play wing, he can cover there,” Robertson told The Breakdown.
“We’re really fortunate with Beaudy (Barrett’s) form, he’s come in with super hot form.
“We’ve got a game this week for Will, it’s his first game in a long, long time so he’s going to have to perform straight away and own it, get back to a Test match level.
“We’re really pleased for him, that he’s worked so hard and it gives us depth, he can play fullback and cover wing.
“I’m really big on players playing two positions; their preferred position and another position. Things change really quickly and the utility factor is critical.”
“World-class”
All Blacks assistant coach Scott Hansen reiterated what Robertson said by not only outlining Jordan’s versatility as a plus but also his sheer quality.
“His great strength is his ability to play both (wing and full-back). When you talk about All Black outside backs, a strength they’ve always had is their ability to be able to cover wing,” Hansen said.
“Will Jordan is a world-class athlete and rugby player. That gives us the ability to play him at full-back where he’s been selected. But also our memory allows us to look at where he was last year on the right wing for the All Blacks, so we’re very lucky to have the ability to use Will where we need to.”
The plan is to have Jordan play a game in the National Provincial Championship (NPC) but the All Blacks management still feels that he can get up to Test speed quickly despite the long lay-off.
“He is a player that can come out and play test match footy straight away,” said Hansen.
“The best thing for Will though is to give him the confidence through our environment through his contact training and collisions and that could also look like him playing for Tasman (in the NPC) in a week or so.”
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