‘What do you do with the leaders?’ – Scott Robertson will not ‘smooth over’ Argentina disaster
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson in 2024.
Scott Robertson insists that he will be “fair and honest” with the players after the All Blacks were stunned by Argentina on Saturday.
New Zealand’s head coach watched on as his side succumbed 38-30 to Los Pumas in Wellington, which was just their third-ever defeat to the South American outfit.
Robertson was evidently frustrated by the display of his squad and felt that they took a step backwards from the England series.
The All Blacks were expected to improve heading into the Rugby Championship, but that did not happen according to the head honcho.
Where it went wrong
“Not as a group, no, we didn’t,” Robertson said when asked if there had been a development. “With that performance, I’m not gonna smooth that over. We did some really good stuff against England around the kicking game, the high battle and contestable stuff.
“We didn’t do that part of it on Saturday and it cost us in the end.
“The kicking game and getting out of our own half, so the aerial battle stuff that we did really well in the first couple of Tests, we didn’t achieve what we were trying to do.”
Robertson admits that self-reflection is the primary focus as the head coach seeks to figure out where it went wrong during the encounter.
“You look at yourself first, I think it’s the key,” he said. “How do you plan your week? How do you frame it? What do you do with the leaders?
“And then you’ve got to come back and go, ‘what are the critical few things?’ We’ve got to dial in as a group. Having a great week is the first thing we’ve got to do.
“You’ve got to be honest with each other, so we’ll be honest. Once we’re honest, we’ll prepare with a real clear focus about what’s required this week.
“We know how much is at stake this weekend.
“I will come in fair and honest, but also you get excited about the opportunity this week. It’s straight back into it at a ground we love (Eden Park).”
Honeymoon period over
There was much excitement when Robertson took charge, but unsurprisingly a result like this has led to some criticism of the coaches.
It followed a narrow series victory over England in July where the performances were also questioned, despite ending on the right side of the scoreline.
And the 49-year-old ultimately realises that to maintain the fans’ goodwill, the All Blacks must improve significantly over the next few weeks.
“Obviously, performance and winning is critical, I’m aware of that. Performances always count,” the head coach said.
“We scored a couple of really good tries and put a lot of pressure on them, and there were some really, really good moments, but there were moments, such as the skill set stuff, that did let us down at key times.”
READ MORE: 10 of the week’s top performers including perfect Pablo Matera and ‘destructive’ Springbok props
