Justin Marshall identifies who will be All Blacks’ toughest opponents on year-end tour
The All Blacks performing the haka and former Test scrum-half Justin Marshall.
Legendary New Zealand scrum-half Justin Marshall has given his thoughts on the All Blacks’ upcoming end-of-year Tests and identified the opponents who will be the toughest to face.
The All Blacks are set to tour Japan and Europe and have a tough programme in which they take on the Brave Blossoms, England, Ireland, France and Italy in successive matches over a five-week period.
New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson has named his 36-man squad for the gruelling tour and the return of Rugby World Cup scrum-half Cam Roigard is the only change to the group.
Roigard comes in for Noah Hotham – who drops down to the All Blacks XV squad – and returns after six months on the sidelines with a serious knee injury he suffered while playing for the Hurricanes in March.
‘Equally as exciting as it is daunting’
“I feel, well, it’s equally as exciting as it is daunting,” Marshall told The Platform. “Like, there’s no doubt, if you ever want to put the rugby boots on and do a challenge with what the All Blacks have got coming up, particularly once they get through, I think Japan, with England, Ireland and France on the bounce, well, that’s why you play the game.
“So, in the same breath that it’s daunting, because these three teams (England, Ireland and France) are all in the top five in the world, equally, it’s why you play the game.
“So I can understand being excited about it, because that’s where you test yourself.
“And I’ll tell you what, by the end of that tour, Scott Robertson will well and truly know exactly where his team is at and how they are tracking.”
While he emphasised that Japan and Italy should not be underestimated, Marshall believes the clashes against the Red Rose, the men from the Emerald Isle and Les Bleus will all present their own unique challenges to Robertson and his troops.
“Obviously, it doesn’t mean that we’re being disrespectful to both Japan and Italy, but history shows, history has been broken recently, that in their entire history, they’ve never beaten us,” he said.
“So you would consider it a huge mountain for them to climb to beat the All Blacks for the first time ever.
“So then you do gauge it on the other three Test matches with making sure you deliver in those two Test matches, Japan and Italy.
“But look, in my mind, I think I said it last week when I finally signed off, we have the potential capability and firepower to win all three. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.
“If we can go to South Africa and in both of those Test matches, and yes, I know Ireland went there and did beat South Africa, but equally, if a few things and a few decisions had gone the All Blacks way, including some maturity decisions, which they would have learnt from, then we are basically on a par with the best teams in the world.
‘I think we can win all three’
“It’s just about on the given day in a Test match, under pressure, and all of a sudden, instead of making sh*tty decisions, which we have done, conceding yellow cards and penalties unnecessarily, and all of a sudden, we become a lot more ruthless and get an edge to ourselves, I think we can win all three.”
Marshall expects tough challenges for the All Blacks in all three of their encounters against those powerhouses of the global game but feels one of the teams will be tougher to beat than the other two.
“I think probably the one advantage that we have over England is the fact that they won’t have played,” he said.
“I believe Ireland won’t have played either, so both of them are vulnerable, and France would have only played one game. When you look at the dynamics of that, then we are obviously much better prepared in terms of being match-hardened, so that’s a good thing.
“I always feel that France is a bit of an enigma one. If they get going and get their rhythm on the day, then yes, they are very capable of beating any team in the world, and they are a very dangerous side.
“I’m not quite convinced that they haven’t recaptured the form that they had a couple of years ago, so I would suggest that England are going to be niggly difficult, always are at Twickenham.
“I’ve never had an easy Test match against them, regardless of what bloody team they put out.
“They just have this ability to play well against the All Blacks at Twickenham, but I think that’s one that we’re capable of winning. The Ireland one is the one, I think, the one in the middle.
“I think if they can get up for those first two, then the French one with max momentum and confidence, with the French being a little undercooked, we could probably knock them over as well. But Ireland for me (will be the toughest).”
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