Scott Robertson hails All Blacks’ ‘special moment’ after mixed year and believes they have been ‘galvanised’
Scott Robertson ahead of All Blacks' clash with England in 2024.
Scott Robertson was “pleased” and “relieved” as the All Blacks earned a significant victory over England at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
New Zealand endured a disappointing Rugby Championship, losing three of their six matches to relinquish the title, and were under pressure going into this encounter.
They certainly did it the hard way after going into the final quarter 22-14 down, but a Mark Tele’a try combined with five points from Damian McKenzie was enough for them to snatch the victory.
‘Pretty special moment’
“It probably had every bit of emotion in the game didn’t it, we showed a lot of character, stayed in the fight for a long period of time, and 15 minutes to go coming from eight down is a pretty special moment for us as a group,” Robertson told reporters.
“I’m pleased, just as much as relieved really, I’m pleased because of how much effort, and care, every game we’ve been in this year we’ve had a lead or a chance to win, so to get one for the group, it means a lot for us, it galvanizes us.”
The All Blacks created plenty of chances in the first half and were rewarded with tries for Tele’a and Will Jordan but they didn’t score a point for 40 minutes.
England controlled the game in that period as Robertson’s men made far too many errors, allowing the hosts to build pressure.
“We need to tidy up our discipline, some execution errors, but keep creating and being brave by volunteering to play. So it’s little small margins, but we’ve definitely got to be better,” the head coach said.
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Bench impact
It was effectively a repeat of the July Tests as England found themselves in a good position in the latter stages only for the All Blacks to hit back and claim a late win.
Like he was in the mid-year series, Robertson was left thanking the impact of the bench, particularly in the front five, as they turned things around late on.
“It’s nice to see them coming on and make an impact, even starting with Asafo Aumua coming on early in the piece for Codie (Taylor), Patrick Tuipulotu was exceptional and the scrum came on with the props, they swung a little bit of the momentum our way, and I was really pleased,” he added.
“We couldn’t find a penalty out there until those couple of scrums, that changed the momentum quite quickly and got up the field, obviously the lineout and a couple of missed calls and things that went with it but it was definitely a little bit of a momentum swing for us.”
