Opinion: The worrying All Blacks trend that will keep Scott Robertson up at night
A worrying trend in the All Blacks game will keep Scott Robertson up at night despite New Zealand defeating Australia in the Bledisloe Cup.
After defeating Australia 28-31 in the Bledisloe Cup, the All Blacks have now won five of their eight Test matches under Scott Robertson but that is not the stat that will keep the head coach up at night.
Rather it will be the team’s inability to finish matches strongly which continues to be a concerning trend for the men in black.
In fact, after five rounds of Rugby Championship action, the All Blacks are yet to score a point in the final quarter of the match having struggled to do so even before the competition.
This is despite the fact that Robertson has clearly aimed to find a solution by making alterations to his bench and making tactical adjustments to rectify the problem.
All Blacks’ inability to finish well
Historically, the All Blacks were a team that no lead held by the opposition was ever enough and that they would find a way back. Sir Graham Henry and Steve Hansen’s teams were masters of the comeback and were certainly aided by the world-class talents that they were able to call upon off the bench.
However, under Robertson, New Zealand are starting the match off well and tend to lead by the time the hour mark rolls around but there is no assurance that their lead is enough to hold out for the win.
In South Africa, that was certainly the case as in both Test matches against the Springboks, Razor’s men were the better side for about an hour of action but both times they ended the game on the losing side having failed to add any points to their tally.
“It’s a fair question, we didn’t finish that game as well as we could have, it was talked about in our review and we have got some younger men starting their Test careers as well,” Assistant coach Jason Ryan told reporters when asked about the team’s struggles in the last quarter.
“So, we were honest around the reality of where we are at with that part of it but by no means are we sugarcoating it and overlooking it. We are acknowledging it and we’ll look to improve it definitely.
“I think it could be a little bit of both to be fair [tactical or selection], we have got guys coming on that have played a handful of Tests and she’s some atmosphere, especially at Ellis Park against the best team in the world.”
While not as starkly obvious as it has been in the Rugby Championship, there were hints about New Zealand’s struggles in the last quarter of matches.
In both games against England, Robertson’s men scored a grand total of 14 points – a sole penalty via the boot of Damian McKenzie in the first Test and two of the same plus a Mark Tele’a try in the second.
A week later, in the clash against Fiji, the All Blacks scored just seven points at debutant George Bell crossed the whitewash before the final whistle and McKenzie added the extras.
The trend continued against Argentina with the All Blacks failing to score in both Tests – including the 42-10 victory at Eden Park – and New Zealand made it five straight games without a point in the last quarter in Sydney.
Last 20 woes
Test match rugby has not only become very much a 23-man aside game nowadays but is also an 80-minute one decided by fine margins – illustrated in Sydney by the three disallowed tries and the Wallabies’ sensational comeback and the sluggish finishes need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Not only are the All Blacks failing to score but they are also failing to stop the opposition from doing so.
They managed to keep England and Fiji scoreless in July but in the Rugby Championship, they conceded 10 and seven points in the final 20 of the two matches against Argentina while conceding 14 and five, respectively to South Africa.
This means that under Robertson, in the last quarter, the scoreline collectively sits at 50-21 in the opposition’s favour.
And in the first clash with the Wallabies, Joe Schmidt’s charges matched the Boks’ efforts scoring 14 points and were frankly unlucky not to get more.
For Robertson, he has to find the main contributing factor to this. Many believe that is the lack of star quality and the number of star men who have departed abroad or retired. Others believe it is a tactical and selection issue; for ex-All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams it is both.
“The Springboks are leading the way because they’ve worked out that it’s a 23-man game and I just don’t think we are there yet,” Williams said on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts.
“I still think we have some of the best, if not the best, players in the world, but from a coaching perspective, we haven’t nailed down the 23-man game mindset.”
He added: “We should be picking those guys [overseas], it’s that easy. It’s not about them, it’s about the team, it’s about the squad. First and foremost, it’s about the cattle and if we have these players, we have a Shannon Frizell to pick from, we have Aaron Smith to pick from – they are game changers.”
Either way, Robertson will hope he can find the right mix as the All Blacks gear up for Bledisloe II without the pressure of putting the cup on the line having already defended it.
But with clashes against Japan, England, Ireland and France laying ahead, he will know that a fix is required sooner rather than later as the tour up north can be incredibly brutal.
The last three Tests of the year are all against teams that have plenty of depth to call upon and will not be shy to make changes to improve their chances in the final quarter if they are within touching distance.
Robertson currently sits with a 63% win ratio and for an All Blacks boss that is not acceptable for a public who is used to the men in black dominating the international game.
