Scott Robertson addresses All Blacks fly-half conundrum after revealing Damian McKenzie’s ‘biggest area’ of concern
All Blacks fly-half Damian McKenzie against Argentina and head coach Scott Robertson.
Scott Robertson has addressed whether the All Blacks will be looking to make a change at fly-half after their loss to Argentina.
New Zealand struggled to wrestle control of the game, especially in the latter stages, as they went down 38-30 to the South American outfit.
Los Pumas secured their third victory in four years against the All Blacks, with all three triumphs coming outside of Argentina.
It ended Robertson’s perfect start as head coach and very much put the pressure on ahead of the second clash at Eden Park next weekend.
Succeeded Richie Mo’unga
Following Richie Mo’unga’s departure to Japan after the Rugby World Cup, Robertson selected Damian McKenzie as the successor at fly-half.
Despite showing some good touches in the opening four matches, the 29-year-old has not necessarily nailed down the jersey and Robertson admits that he needs to improve in one key facet.
“Damian’s showed some really incredible class touches, like that chip kick,” the head coach told reporters.
“His short passing game’s really good and he will grow as a game manager, that’s the biggest area.”
Asked whether they would be sticking by McKenzie, Robertson responded: “Yeah, we are. You’ve got to back him, and he’s learning along the way.”
WATCH: The bizarre play that helped Los Pumas beat the All Blacks
The fly-half was involved in the key incident which cost them the match on Saturday as he exacerbated Ardie Savea’s errant pass by sending Rieko Ioane scampering towards his own line to pick up a loose ball.
It was a moment of madness from McKenzie, as well as Savea, who was captaining the team in the absence of Scott Barrett.
Robertson reflected on the number eight’s leadership style following the loss, with the result appearing to hit the current World Rugby Player of Year hard.
“He’s a quiet leader, and it did hurt,” he said. “He does his talking with his actions. He won’t say much, he will slip in behind other leaders and just whisper a few words here and there, but that was a tough one. It was tough for all of them.”
‘That was the game’
Robertson delved into those errors from McKenzie and Savea, and what they should have done in that moment.
“That’s the part where we need to be composed, which we’ve talked about a lot. Those are your moments; just settle and get the ball back down their end or get into a little bit of shape to play. That was the game.”
Although positives were in short supply for the All Blacks, Robertson did feel that young lock Sam Darry, who scored his first Test try, was impressive.
“There were some massive efforts from our boys, there were some great performances. Sam Darry, second Test, he was great at Test level,” he added.
