Jeff Wilson claims ‘too many areas of concern’ for the All Blacks with Scott Robertson finding ‘no answers’ to their problems
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson and New Zealand legend Jeff Wilson.
All Blacks legend Jeff Wilson believes that Scott Robertson has the playing talent at his disposal but it is now up to the head coach and his backroom team to find the answers ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
New Zealand endured another mediocre campaign by their high standards as they came second to the Springboks in the Rugby Championship and failed in their Grand Slam quest during the end-of-year tour.
Robertson’s men only lost three games in 2025, which followed four defeats in 2024, but the performances remain unconvincing, with little progress evident.
Wilson believes that this is pretty much the set of players, barring one or two changes, such as Richie Mo’unga’s return, that will take the All Blacks through to the World Cup.
However, the 52-year-old feels that there are still a number of problems the coaches have not yet solved.
‘Your job to fix those’
“There are just too many areas of concern right now. There were areas which were an issue three or four months ago, so why is it still an issue now?” he said on The Breakdown.
“You’re looking for solutions as coaching teams and for me there were too many times where after the game there were no answers.
“There was the, ‘I’m not sure about that one, I don’t know how that’s happened’. That’s your job to fix those.
“Your job as coaches is to look at where there is an issue, find a way for the team to become educated so when they go out there and play again, they’re not making the same mistakes.”
If 2025 was a tough schedule for the All Blacks then 2026 looks even more challenging as they face the number one outfit the Springboks in four Tests, with three of those definitely in South Africa.
“It’s not about depth for me, it’s about us getting a combination together that understands how they want to play the game, which is going to be good enough to beat the top teams in the world, and they’ll have to do that in a quarter, semi and final,” Wilson said.
“What they have to do next year is they’ve got to go to South Africa and there is no bigger challenge. You talk about a Grand Slam being hard to win, I’m sorry touring South Africa is going to be more challenging.
“Four Test matches, three of which look as though they’re going to be in South Africa, plus they’ve got the Nations Championship competition, which is going to be a different challenge.
“The pressure now comes in about finding a group that can play a particular way that is going to be good enough.”
Another underwhelming All Blacks display
New Zealand ended their Test season with what appeared to be a comfortable 52-26 victory over Wales, but it took a late surge to put away the struggling hosts.
The Welsh were very much in the game after 50 minutes before Robertson’s side dominated the final half-hour.
“What we did against Wales I don’t think stands up against the top teams in the world. We were able to outmuscle them and get momentum with our direct running,” Wilson added.
“Wallace Sititi outstanding, Samisoni Taukei’aho outstanding. All of these players made a dent in the opposition, we found some space and scored some really nice tries. But that’s the number 12 team in the world, not top-six.
“I’ve got no issues with the players but I think there needs to be conversations about how they prepare them now from here as you head towards the Rugby World Cup.
“I don’t see many other players coming into the picture in the next 18 months going into a World Cup that would be game-changers.
“This is the group, they’ve now got to kick on.”