Israel Dagg questions ‘atrocious’ All Blacks and Scott Robertson’s ‘information overload’
Israel Dagg has weighed in on Scott Robertson's impact and the All Blacks' poor exits.
Former All Blacks outside back Israel Dagg has slammed Scott Robertson’s side’s poor exit tactics and questions whether the rest of the world has caught up with New Zealand.
Dagg, who worked under Robertson at the Crusaders, is willing to be patient with the team’s performances under the innovative head coach but does raise several concerns following the underwhelming performances against England and the loss to Argentina.
The All Blacks were defeated 38-30 by Los Pumas in their Rugby Championship opener and the ex-Crusaders star wonders if the entire squad is on board with Robertson’s plans.
All Blacks information overload
Dagg said that he expected more from Robertson after he took over from Ian Foster as the head coach of the All Blacks but wonders if the new boss is giving too much to his players.
“I actually had high expectations that it would be totally different, I thought there would be some innovation and some creativity,” Dagg admitted on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby ANZ podcast.
“Razor brings something unique and different and it’s hard to really to understand what’s going on.
“Is it an information overload or are these players just really overloaded with information with all the coaches or is it just a lack of buy-in, people not really convinced by him because he’s a unique man and very different to the coaches that these players would have had.”
The All Blacks have become a less dominant outfit than they were during Dagg’s international career, which is highlighted by Ireland and Argentina picking up two wins in New Zealand since 2022.
New Zealand did reach the Rugby World Cup final last year but they lost more often between 2019 and 2023 than fans are accustomed to and Dagg questions whether the rest of the rugby world has now caught up.
He also raises concerns over the depth in the current squad which was again apparent in the second-row against Argentina.
“Is it selection? Or is it really just biting the bullet here and saying ‘Look, the rest of the world is catching up and we just don’t have the depth that we once had,” Dagg added.
“I can’t really put a finger on it, it’s only three or four matches in, so I want to give them time to really settle in and a lot of things that they are doing are within their control.”
Kicking issues
While the former back was cautious of being overly critical of Robertson and the All Blacks, he did not hold back when analysing one tactical issue, the exit kicks.
The All Blacks struggled with their exits during the series against England and those issues have carried into the Rugby Championship, which played a major role in their defeat to Argentina.
“Their exits were atrocious, they were horrible and Argentina did their homework,” Dagg said.
“The All Blacks couldn’t exit against the English, you put them down in the corner, they will go to the box kick and they are not brave enough to manipulate the backfield and they will kick on your terms.
“They are forcing the All Blacks to kick and then they build pressure.
“So if the All Blacks are going to make any changes this week, they need to be brave in the way that they are kicking and maybe go three, four, five more phases to manipulate that backfield.
“We have such great weapons out there, Jordie Barrett has the biggest boot in the game and then the wingers Will Jordan is out there can kick, Beaudy, and DMac can kick so we shouldn’t solely rely on TJ to kick everything.”
READ MORE: Justin Marshall: Scott Robertson’s costly error with Will Jordan who failed to ‘influence’ the game
