Sonny Bill Williams rues Scott Robertson’s management as Springboks ‘lead the way’
Sonny Bill Williams has bemoaned Scott Robertson's coaching errors against the Springboks.
Double World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams has bemoaned Scott Robertson’s coaching errors against the Springboks.
This after New Zealand surrendered second-half leads against the Springboks in back-to-back matches in South Africa.
Robertson’s charges led the Springboks 14-22 in Johannesburg and 3-9 in Cape Town but lost 31-27 and 18-12, respectively.
The failure to score in the final quarter of Rugby Championship matches has been a regular fixture for the All Blacks in 2024 with New Zealand’s bench outmuscled by the Boks in particular.
Even in the 42-10 victory over Argentina, the All Blacks were unable to score any points after Damian McKenzie converted Will Jordan’s try early in the second half.
Calling a spade a spade
Previewing the clash against Australia, Williams gave a frank assessment of the state of the All Blacks ahead of the Bledisloe Cup fixtures but also reserved some praise for the Springboks.
“If we call a spade a spade, New Zealand isn’t the team from an aura perspective that it once was and Australia needs to thrive off that,” he said on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts..
“They are shaky, to say the least, if we’re being honest but I tweeted after the South African game, that 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.
“That’s me taking a dig at the players, 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.
“But I still think there’s been some great signs and that we will win this weekend, and win well.”
With the Springboks’ famed ‘Bomb Squad’ continuing to play a crucial role in Rassie Erasmus’ success, Robertson aimed to counter their tactics but loading his bench with experienced players in the second Test match.
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Tyrel Lomax playing too long
Anton Leinert-Brown, TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett all came off the bench in Cape Town but it did not have the desired impact and Williams pins that on the coaches.
“This is me keeping it really, really simple; the game is won through the middle,” he added.
“So when was the last time we saw a prop from the Boks come off the field or still be on the field in the 72nd minute?
“The greatest teams that I’ve been involved with the 2015 All Blacks and you could say the same of the 2019-2023 South African sides – some of the best teams in the history of the game – it was always a full 23-man squad game, it’s simple.
“Tyrel Lomax played really, really well – he’s at the top of his game right now – but you put that pressure of a player playing at that level in South Africa, 70 minutes into the game, you know him making that mistake that was just a coaching error more than himself.”
Springboks build belief
The 58-Test cap ex-All Black also highlighted how Erasmus was willing to rotate his team between the two Test matches and give his substitutes plenty of playing minutes – again something that Robertson did not.
In the second Test match, Fletcher Newell only entered proceedings after Lomax’s yellow card while Asafo Aumua had a brief cameo when Codie Taylor went for an HIA. Lock Sam Darry spent the entire match on the bench while Ofa Tu’ungafasi played just over 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, Erasmus made most of his substitutions with over 25 minutes left in the game and Williams that those tactics build belief in the squad while Robertson is creating doubt.
“South Africa in that first Test, they played amazing. Some of those players that were arguably the best on the field didn’t play the next week. It’s a total belief over there in the full squad,” he said.
“If I’m number 16 to 23 right now in the All Blacks and on the bench being used for 7 minutes, I’m sitting there thinking ‘Man, how am I part of the squad or am I part of this team or do the coaches have been for me?'”
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