Scott Robertson selection questioned as Murray Mexted gives blunt verdict on All Blacks team for second France Test
Former All Blacks number eight Murray Mexted and their head coach Scott Robertson.
Legendary New Zealand number eight Murray Mexted is happy with most of the selections which All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson has made for their second Test against France in Wellington on Saturday.
Despite having to work hard for their 31-27 victory over Les Bleus in the first match of the three-Test series in Dunedin last week, Mexted, who represented the All Blacks in 34 Tests between 1979 and 1985, gave the side’s overall performance a positive review.
Mexted was appearing on the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin and the show’s host informed him that All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan wasn’t happy with the collisions and feels his team were not physical enough in that first Test against France.
But Mexted feels that is not a big issue and said he was encouraged that the All Blacks have worked on improving some key areas of their game
“No, I reckon Jason knows what he’s doing,” he said. “I didn’t know that till last week, because I was critical of the selection (in) year one (2024) when they didn’t have enough guys to win the ball.
‘They learnt their lesson’
“And we were trying to beat teams with 40% possession, but they learnt their lesson.
“And they’ve brought in probably the biggest lock in New Zealand (Fabian Holland), isn’t it? (Josh) Lord and Holland have been the two biggest anyway.
“And he played well for his debut in a very hard situation, Holland I’m talking about. So, and I’m not surprised that they played very much the same side.”
Although he happy with head coach Scott Robertson’s overall selection for the second Test, Mexted believes rookie All Blacks number eight Christian Lio-Willie is lucky to retain his position in the starting line-up.
“I would have perhaps thought about changing the number eight,” he said. “I think that was probably my only (concern). I would have put (Luke) Jacobson in, given Jacobson a go, because he’s played so well in Super Rugby this year.
“But anyway, it’s the same forward pack basically, isn’t it?
“So, they should be better this week than they were last week. And if they’re better than they were last week, that’s pretty good. So I’m sort of quite happy with that.”
As a former loose forward, Mexted was asked about the make-up of the All Blacks’ back-row, how they performed in Dunedin and how he expects them to fare in Wellington and said: “I think that Ardie (Savea) was quieter than I’ve seen him for a while. He’s got to be one of the best players in the world.
‘He took it by the horns and he owns that position’
“So I think we’ll see more of him (in the second Test). I think Tupou (Vaa’i) had an outstanding game. I think he took it by the horns and he owns that position.
“You got to play bloody well to get that position off him now and he’d be more confident.
“He has played with more confidence this year, but I was worried about him moving into the blindside and whether he would be familiar enough to have that same confidence. And he did, and he played well in the lineout.
“So it definitely gives us another lineout forward. And as a loose forward, being your third lineout jumper, which means you don’t get called as often, and you’re more of a surprise package when you are called. 197 (centimetres), I think he is.
“He’ll be good. As long as those two locks beside him are over two metres tall. And they are.”
Mexted then reiterated his point about Lio-Willie’s performance in Wellington saying he feels the 26-year-old will have show considerable improvement if he wants to retain his position in the starting line-up.
“I thought he (Lio-Willie) was quiet too, actually,” he said.
“I think early in the game, the first 20 minutes, he featured a couple of times, taking the ball up a bit. Never really broke the line. He was quite quiet in the second half.
“So that’s why I thought Jacobson might get a run. So, I think he’d need to step up big time this week if he wants to play in the third Test.”