Pressure on Scott Robertson? Sonny Bill Williams’ frank verdict after All Blacks’ heaviest defeat
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson and an inset of ex-centre Sonny Bill Williams.
Double Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams has weighed in on whether Scott Robertson is under pressure after a record defeat to the Springboks.
South Africa ran in six tries in a thumping 43-10 win over New Zealand at Sky Stadium in Wellington, which means that the All Blacks, like the rest of the teams in the Championship, are two wins and two defeats after four rounds of action.
This year’s TRC has also seen the All Blacks fall to their maiden defeat to Los Pumas in Argentina, and with the tournament so evenly weighted, there is a real chance that for a second year in a row, Roberston could fail to win the southern hemisphere’s premier competition.
Following the record margin of defeat to the Boks, the question has been raised whether Robertson, who is in just his second year in the role as head coach, should be under threat of losing his position.
His predecessor, Ian Foster, was in a rather similar situation in 2022 after the All Blacks‘ troublesome start to the Rugby Championship, but he held onto his position with New Zealand Rugby shaking up his backroom staff.
Lose the Bledisloe…
Former centre Williams appeared on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts show, where he brought up the question about Robertson’s future.
He posed the question to former Wallaby Morgan Turinui, who believes that losing that Bledisloe Cup to Australia would put the former Crusaders boss under the pump.
“No, not yet,” said Turinui when asked by Williams whether Robertson is under pressure.
“Lose the Bledisloe Cup and then maybe. If that happens, he shouldn’t be gone or under pressure, but that’s the nature of the All Blacks’ coaching job.”
The question was flipped on Williams, who replied: “If he loses the Bledisloe (then yes), not gone but under pressure.”
He believes that while the pressure is on the All Blacks to perform for their head coach and from the public and media, it’s an entirely different atmosphere with Australia as the two sides prepare to clash at Eden Park and in Perth.
“That’s what I love about the Wallabies right now, the pressure to perform is coming from within,” he said.
“Okay, Hunter (Paisami) didn’t have the greatest game, but he still played world-class. It shows the depth that the Wallabies are building.”
Danger signs for Wallabies
Looking ahead to the final two weeks of the Rugby Championship, Williams issued a warning to the Wallabies as he believes that Robertson’s men will be riled up for the clash in Auckland.
“Can I speak frankly? I feel like this is danger signs for the Wallabies. I’ve been in camp when we’ve lost a game and it’s like a morgue, it’s like a national travesty, like someone died,” he said.
“I feel that pressure will come out, we are playing at Eden Park, it’s danger signs for the Wallabies, but if Australia have the confidence to back themselves, it could be interesting, but we are primed for a really big occasion at Eden Park.”
Following four rounds of action, it is the Australians who top the Rugby Championship standings on 11 points, with South Africa and New Zealand trailing by a single point. Los Pumas are on nine points.
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