Israel Dagg concerned Scott Robertson has made fatal error as ‘pressure mounting’ on All Blacks boss
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson and former back three star Israel Dagg.
All Blacks great Israel Dagg is worried that Scott Robertson has made a mistake by being so brutally honest ahead of the Eden Park clash.
New Zealand face South Africa in Auckland on Saturday in what is the biggest match since the Rugby World Cup final.
The All Blacks are unbeaten at the stadium since 1994, but come into the game off the back of a disappointing defeat to Argentina.
Robertson’s honesty
In the build-up to the Springboks encounter, Robertson opened up on the fact that there will be “fear” and “pressure”, as well as nerves, and he has certainly not played down the enormity of the occasion.
The head coach obviously looked to put a positive spin on it, but Dagg, who was coached by the 51-year-old at the Crusaders, felt it could have been a misstep.
“The nerves are there. The pressure is mounting, I think this is probably the first time that Razor has felt this sort of pressure and no surprise as this is the All Blacks – it carries a whole lot of pressure and expectation when you take that role,” he said on Sport Nation’s Scotty and Izzy show.
“I saw the headline and I was thinking, ‘what’s going on here?’ I had a read, had a listen and he’s acknowledging what’s in front of him, the history that is involved with playing at Eden Park and the rivalry between South Africa and New Zealand.
“The fear is there. For me, you can acknowledge it privately within the group but it’s very important as a coach and as a leader of that group you never share that or make players and people around you feel that.
“I think it can have a flow-on effect.”
Dagg stated that he would not like to see his coach publicly reveal those types of thoughts and emotions before a game.
‘Could have a detrimental effect’
“Personally, I feed off other people’s energy and the way that they feel, and the way that they approach things. I’m not saying everyone in there is like me but it could have a detrimental effect with the group,” he said.
“[However], you’ve got to acknowledge the opposition as a sign of respect. You listen to Rassie’s [Erasmus] press conference and he talks about not disrespecting previous opponents they’ve played, but that there’s a wonderful rivalry here between the All Blacks and the South Africans.
“It’s out there now and he’s [Robertson] acknowledged it. It’s fair for him to feel the pressure because there’s a lot going on.”
It has been a fraught build-up to the Springboks clash for the All Blacks, with the Eden Park record not the only thing on Robertson’s plate.
There was a significant backlash following the Argentina defeat, while there have been a number of key injuries for him to contend with.
“There are a lot of things that are out of his control, too, with injuries to some very important personnel in the group. When you come off a loss, it’s always difficult because people are looking for a bounce back,” Dagg added.
“Razor’s got his detractors as well that probably want to see him fail and want to see him go through this sort of pain.”
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