Loose Pass: Scott Robertson honeymoon over while All Blacks’ off-field issues highlighted by Wallabies success
Scott Robertson was handed his first loss at All Blacks head coach last weekend.
This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with the shifting of powers in the Rugby Championship…
Be careful what you wish for
It does not take long for the hand to move to the clip on the knife sheath in New Zealand. ‘Omnishambles’ was one abrupt fan reaction on the night, while the line of questioning during the post-match press conference was predictably chilly.
Nobody is suggesting Scott Robertson is the wrong man for the job yet – rightly – but nor is there a general feeling of seeing the sort of quick progression and evolution that had been expected from the team either.
Most pertinently, it was the last 20 minutes that saw New Zealand looking short of ideas, a time in the July Tests against England in which they had shown a far steelier edge. It’s rare for New Zealand to lose, even rarer for the team to look short of ideas in the critical moments. Even rare still is the sort of misfire that saw two passes from experienced heads go through thin air and cost the team around 35 metres of territory.
Robertson was ostensibly hired to impress upon international level the blueprint that he used to such devastating effect with the Crusaders. But there are differences between international teams and province/franchise teams, not least the familiarity of the players in the latter with each other.
Most pertinently, the tightness and finessing of a game-plan at international level is different. Implementing something new takes time. Provincial and franchise teams have that, international teams much less. This All Black team has been together a shade over five weeks; that’s less than a Crusaders pre-season.
Coaches often revert to as simple and basic a game-plan as possible at international level before expanding it and tweaking it as the squad grows together if they are given the time (think about how England have been under Steve Borthwick or indeed, how South Africa have evolved over the eight years of Rassie Erasmus). Continuity has an effect on this – hence Robertson was passed over for Ian Foster last time there was a change – but the confusion evident at times on Saturday was absolutely that of a team still getting the details right.
All Blacks v Argentina: Predicted line-up as ‘forgotten’ back makes return for New Zealand
It’ll take time. Foster had been an All Blacks coaching staff member since 2012 when he was made head coach in 2019; while a new head man, there was much less change to the blueprint than this time. But continuity helped to mask some problems, not least that New Zealand’s current generation is generally not quite as bright as the last. Foster was vilified for this, with Robertson frequently cast as the saviour-in-waiting. Many people now have what they want.
Robertson – and his staff – are all fresh and new, and have not reverted to pure basics, preferring to back themselves and their ideas. Imprinting those on the national team is a process fraught with risk and in the brightest of spotlights, against the best in the world.
But setbacks can provide clarity. The last time New Zealand fell to Argentina at home in the Rugby Championship, they backed it up with a 50-point shellacking the following week. How the All Blacks back this defeat up will be instructive as to the actual progress being made.
The seats tell a story
An interesting question was put to me on Sunday: which union would you rather be in charge of, the one that is in charge of the ninth-placed team in the world, Australia, filling up a 52,000-capacity stadium or the one in charge of the third-placed team in the world but failing to fill a 34,000-capacity stadium?
Inflation and cost of living problems clearly contributed, but attendances at matches in New Zealand have been waning for a while now. Respected columnist Gregor Paul was quite succinct on the matter in the defeat’s aftermath, saying that the loyalty of fans was being tested by the ticket prices. Comments lamented the lack of attendances at provincial rugby matches these days; gone are the days when NPC clashes would be regularly played in front of sell-out crowds.
The provinces and the national union have been involved in an ugly spat for a year now, with an uneasy ceasefire currently holding.
Robertson has his challenges, but the off-pitch problems – and the stayaway votes of the fans – feel far more problematic.
Argentina reborn
As if to note that things can suddenly go remarkably right if allowed to develop in peace, we should not forget that the Argentina team that won in Wellington is largely the same one that fell 28-13 at home to a France team featuring eight debutants not one month ago.
New Zealand were not on their game. But Argentina have been transformed over the five weeks since that poor showing in Mendoza. The accuracy was vastly improved, as was the speed and awareness of each other. The challenge now is to back it up; no better place to make that point than Eden Park.
