The All Blacks’ bleak record in the capital has had no shortage of airtime this week, and fair enough.
But there’s more at stake on Saturday night for head coach Scott Robertson than overseeing the All Blacks’ first win in Wellington since 2018.
After all, the man who was seen as a saviour by many when he was appointed Ian Foster’s replacement last year has hardly lived up to the hype eight tests into his tenure.
Perhaps the hype, built on the back of seven remarkable seasons in charge of the Crusaders, was unfair given international rugby is a vastly different beast to Super Rugby.
Maybe not.
Nonetheless, Robertson didn’t shy away from the importance of producing a statement performance against the lowly Wallabies, who are flirting with dropping outside the top-10 in the world rankings.
Sure, the Bledisloe Cup has been stashed for at least another year on the back of last week’s patchy victory over the Wallabies in Sydney, but the Rugby Championship is out of reach after the All Blacks split their two home tests with Argentina and lost to the Springboks twice in South Africa.
Including two close shaves with England in July, followed by a predictably comfortable win over Fiji in San Diego, Robertson’s record reads: five wins, three losses.
Not a great look. Just like the departure of assistant coach Leon MacDonald five tests into the test season.
The same goes for the lack of progress the All Blacks are seemingly making, highlighted by their inability to close out games and score a single point in the final quarter of all five Rugby Championship tests.
A new regime, armed with fresh ideas and schemes, was always going to take time to embed and function.
Time is running out to get it right ahead of the northern tour, which features consecutive tests against England, Ireland and France, before concluding against Italy on November 24.
Robertson is leaning on veterans such as Sam Cane, Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara this week, naming a starting 15 loaded with almost 1000 test caps.
Speaking of those veterans, they’re players many assumed would either be out of the picture or sparingly used by Robertson, who wouldn’t have surprised anyone if he chose to stamp his mark on the job by making wholesale changes.
It is, after all, year one of a new World Cup cycle. There’s an argument the All Blacks don’t need to be the best team in the world now. That would be in 2027.
The All Blacks play the Wallabies at the Cake Tin at 7.05 tonight.
Source: Stuff.co
