‘At your peril’ – All Blacks great issues stark warning ahead of Springboks clash to players that ‘button off’

All Blacks legend Justin Marshall insists that there are plenty of players desperate to get a Test opportunity if the current crop underperforms.

Marshall’s warning came after their double-header against Argentina which saw New Zealand lose one of their two matches.

After that 38-30 defeat in Wellington, head coach Scott Robertson generally kept faith with the squad, making just four changes to the side.

With one of those enforced due to injury, Robertson therefore thought that a slight tweak would be sufficient and he was proven correct.

Impressive response

They would go on to claim a 42-10 victory at Eden Park to kick-start their Rugby Championship campaign and set them up for their upcoming encounters against the Springboks.

However, Marshall believes that other All Blacks players will follow the likes of Mark Tele’a and Sevu Reece in being dropped if they fail to hit the required standards.

“I think you roll the dice. I would like to think that the opportunity is given if it’s justified but, at the end of the day, if you button off in an All Blacks jersey, we have such competitiveness for that jersey that if you have a poor game and you back that up with another poor game, you’re not going to get that opportunity to right the wrongs,” he told The Platform.

“That was certainly the case for some of the players involved in Wellington with a few strategic changes made and opportunities given to others.

Justin Marshall: ‘All Blacks cannot bring back the damage to the jersey in Wellington’

“If you do go out there and are part of a side that hasn’t played well and has underperformed and lost a Test match, but you yourself individually within that 23 has let the side down and hasn’t played well, then you’ve got to live with that.

“That’s the expectation, that’s the responsibility of wearing that jersey and if you don’t wear it correctly and don’t perform in it, we have so much talent in this country just wanting to put that jersey on and get their opportunity.

“At your peril do you button off too much.”

Robertson’s view on team changes

Following the victory over Argentina, New Zealand’s head coach spoke about his squad selections and why he backed what was a similar group of players to deliver in Auckland.

“You know that it’s in them,” Robertson told SENZ. “[You ask] what could have we done personally as coaches to set them up and how can they firstly go and own their own performance, step forward and get this week right?

“You’ve got to back your men but you’ve got to do it with a conversation behind it that’s required, so they’re clear.

“We’ll say, ‘we’re going to support you’, and they did own it and performed; I’m really pleased and proud of them.”

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