Justin Marshall gives forthright verdict on All Blacks’ chances in 2025
All Blacks back-rowers Samipeni Finau and Ardie Savea celebrate a victory, and former scrum-half Justin Marshall.
Legendary New Zealand scrum-half Justin Marshall is backing the All Blacks to show improvement next year after some indifferent performances during their 2024 international campaign.
After suffering a narrow defeat to their arch rivals the Springboks in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final in France, Scott Robertson took over the All Blacks coaching reins from Ian Foster.
Robertson came into the job on a wave of expectation after guiding the Crusaders to seven Super Rugby titles in as many years, but despite that excellent record he found things more difficult as an international coach.
The All Blacks certainly had an eventful year as they lost the services of assistant coach Leon MacDonald, after a highly publicised fallout with Robertson, during the early stages of their Rugby Championship campaign and the three-time world champions’ form was indifferent throughout the year.
‘We want to make sure we preserve what we’ve done over 100 years’
They eventually lost four of their 14 Tests this year and when asked whether he would give the All Blacks a pass mark for the year, Marshall told the Devlin Sports Podcast Network: “Oh look, I feel if we’re thinking about the All Blacks and the ruthlessness of the All Blacks and our history, you know, we are quite demanding and the All Blacks winning every Test match in front of them and you and I have been advocates of that, that we don’t want to target Rugby World Cups and start building towards them, we want to make sure we preserve what we’ve done over 100 years.
“So you’d have to say that it’s very hard to give it more than a sort of seven for the year, given the Test matches that we did drop four of them in a calendar year and you know again another one against Argentina. Those are Test matches that unfortunately they do hurt you and they do eventually take a toll when you’re looking at a successful pass mark for the year.
“So I still do feel that the results, some of them could have gone either way and it could have been a completely different season and it’s not been a disaster, but it’s not probably at the usual standard we’d expect of our All Black sides.”
While the All Blacks have not reached their usual high standards, Marshall feels their two upcoming Tests against the world champion Springboks – which will both be played in New Zealand – will be their measuring stick in 2025.
“Absolutely, it is. What next year will unfold will be what have we learned from this year?” he said.
“How much pressure are certain players under to deliver again in the All Black jersey? Do they need to go out and earn it again? Absolutely.
“And then equally, yes, finding that ruthless edge to winning Test matches, and then getting to the point where we’re no longer making excuses.
‘We’ve come a hell of a long way as a country’
“To a degree, I think we’ve come a hell of a long way as a country, because we’re actually reasonably acceptable of our All Blacks losing Test matches.
“There’s still that certain majority of people that are still pi*sed off or don’t like the All Blacks losing, but for some reason move on from it quicker. You used to hang on to that for quite a long time, a week or two now, when you just need to moan for a couple of days. I don’t know if that’s helping, because that edge was always there as an All Black.
“You knew if you dropped a Test match, it was going to be an unpleasant couple of weeks walking around in the public.
“In terms of next year, how does it unfold? It’s about getting that hunger back, to refuse to allow the opposition to beat us, and to put that fear back in them that. Yes, you might be having a good day, but we’re still going to keep coming.
“Eventually, we’re going to win the Test match, and you’ll wonder why, but that’s what’s going to make us good again, and that’s what’s going to make us the best in the world.
“We’ve got to find that within ourselves.”
READ MORE: Justin Marshall pinpoints key area which proved costly for All Blacks in 2024
