Reality of coaching at top level hitting home for All Blacks coach Scott Robertson – The Front Page

Scott Robertson's side suffered another defeat in Cape Town. Photo / Photosport

The reality of coaching the national side will be sinking in for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson after a series of losses.

The side have won just three of their last seven internationals with Robertson at the helm, a stark contrast to his time coaching the Crusaders, when he took them to five back-to-back Super Rugby titles (seven if you count the two Covid-era limited championships).

Newstalk ZB’s sport news director Clay Wilson told The Front Page that taking the reins of a national side is quite different to being in charge of a provincial one, which is part of the problem.

“He had such a long period with the Crusaders and so much success, but no real international coaching experience. He coached the Junior All Blacks, the New Zealand Under-20 team, but nothing at senior international level,” Wilson said.

His predecessor Ian Foster was an assistant coach for the All Blacks before taking over as head coach of the side, which would have given him an advantage, Wilson said.

“Some people might say it’s not a big a step up, but it really is, it’s different and when you play a team like the Springboks at Ellis Park or [Cape Town Stadium] like they did at the weekend, that’s when you find out the difference between playing at Super Rugby level and playing at international level.”

Wilson said the side’s 18-12 loss to the Springboks at the weekend was concerning, and the fact they hadn’t scored a point in the last 20 minutes of their last four tests meant there were issues to work through.

“The reality is rugby is an 80-minute game. You can be great for 65 or 70 minutes as the All Blacks were, especially in the first test in South Africa. But if you don’t finish the game off, you’re going to lose against other good teams because it’s such small margins between these top teams.”

Wilson said the All Blacks had plateaued, while other sides had continued to innovate and improve – and now was a good a time as any to experiment with the line-up.

“There’s a lot of good, promising young players coming through in the squad. This is the first year of a World Cup cycle. If you’re going to give these players opportunities, now is the time to do it. But of course, he’s trying to juggle that with making sure that you don’t lose any more games.”

The All Blacks now have a week’s rest to regroup before facing Australia on September 21. Wilson said that if the All Blacks can win both games, that should calm any nerves New Zealand Rugby may have over the early season performance.

“I would be surprised if there isn’t some real concern at New Zealand Rugby. There was so much public support for Scott Robertson, so much goodwill at New Zealand Rugby to get him into this job, and now it’s not quite going to plan. But it’s the same with Ian Foster, not everyone starts out just winning every game.”

Listen to the full episode for more on the issues facing the All Blacks, and why they aren’t isolated to our shores.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Susie Nordqvist, an experienced broadcast journalist.

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