Justin Marshall pinpoints key area which proved costly for All Blacks in 2024
The All Blacks form a huddle and former Test scrum-half Justin Marshall.
Justin Marshall has identified the All Blacks’ backline play as a key reason for their indifferent form during the 2024 international season.
Marshall, who made 81 Test appearances as a scrum-half for New Zealand between 1996 and 2005, admitted that the three-time world champions’ backline play was not at its usual high standards.
The All Blacks won 10 out of 14 Tests this year as they suffered a shock loss to Argentina in their Rugby Championship opener before registering back-to-back defeats against the Springboks in that competition and also lost their Autumn Nations Series Test against France.
The 51-year-old believes the introduction of a new head coach in Scott Robertson and some of the changes which he introduced has not had the desired effect and the players took some time to adapt to it.
‘A reshuffle in terms of players’
“Look, I just feel that there’s just been a reshuffle in terms of players that have had, I guess, opportunities to be in the All Black jersey, particularly over the last two or three years, have now found themselves under a new coach, put in different jerseys,” Marshall told the Devlin Sports Podcast Network.
“They might have been part of the starting line-up. Now, obviously, Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett are two of those players, but equally so is Will Jordan, and then the re-emergence of Caleb Clarke, and then probably nobody really nailing down that other wing position.
“Probably the most consistent selected for the year, you would have to say, was Rieko Ioane, but that didn’t come without a little bit of criticism as well.
“And then half-back with Roigard being out, we’ve been down the pathway of Cortez Ratima, Finlay Christie was involved early in the year, he then found himself no longer there, and TJ Perenara, obviously, at the end of his career.
“So when you go through all of those names and look at it, you know, great All Black teams (in the past), you could name that starting backline every weekend.
“Bar injury, they were rocking the same players out, and you take players out of the mix like an Aaron Smith, it’s going to have an effect, and not only efficiency in the way the team plays and a certain player plays that makes the team function, but equally, experience and decision making, you know, like, that’s a big chunk as well.
“So, yeah, I certainly think the personnel is there, we just quite haven’t found our mojo as of yet as to what that starting backline looks like, and get them playing consistently together.”
Impressed by forwards’ form
By contrast, Marshall has been impressed by the performances of the All Blacks’ forwards and highlighted their play as a positive for the team ahead of the 2025 international campaign.
He also feels although the All Blacks have not played to their potential yet, there were certain aspects of their game which showed improvement.
“Yeah, absolutely,” he said when asked if he was happy with the All Blacks forwards’ performances in 2024. “I think equally what the All Blacks this year have tried to figure out, and I can see it unfolding for them, we’re not quite there yet, but a big frustration in 2023 was our inability to break apart that very blitz style aggressive defence.
“We got around a lot of those teams which were causing us problems, we learnt a lot from the English Test series, we learnt a lot about the South Africans, but we scored tries against them, particularly at Ellis Park.
“So, you know, Ireland equally, we found points in the outside channels, and we opened up their defence, where in previous years we’ve really struggled, so you’ve got to take that as a positive.
“A big part of that, I think, was the work being done by that forward pack. That is competitive of every big forward pack out there in the year, the emergence of Wallace Sititi, Tupou Vaa’i, the way that Tamati Williams has come on, and Tyrel Lomax playing some great rugby, Codie Taylor equally, you know, you’ve got a real powerful forward pack there.
“I think them delivering probably better, cleaner ruck ball, but equally doing their part in making sure that they’re fatiguing defenders, so that the backs, when they do get the opportunity, are playing against players that are not having as much gas in the tank as what they would usually have, because they’re having to work hard to contain our forward pack.
“So, look, the balance is there, we’ve got the personnel, we just have to try and now turn that into leadership, to experience, and get ruthless like the Springboks at winning Test matches that are there to be won, because there was a handful of them there this year that we struggled with, or lost, and we shouldn’t have.”
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