Scott Robertson’s All Blacks squad criticised despite clear strategic vision for 2025 – Paul Lewis

THE FACTS

• Scott Robertson’s 2025 All Blacks squad focuses on a strategic, dynamic style prioritising power and speed.
• Ethan Blackadder was omitted for lacking offensive impact, with Samipeni Finau selected for his potential.
• Robertson aims to play all 33 squad members against France in July, balancing winning and development.

It’s perplexing that Scott Robertson and his fellow All Blacks selectors have met some criticism over their first squad for 2025 – a selection that shows exactly how the All Blacks want to play and which changes the strategic dynamic of last year.

If you could call it that. Last year seemed more to be about preserving the All Blacks’ win record than planning ahead; more about retaining experienced individuals so the selectors/coaches didn’t come under pressure.

That was at least partly responsible for the somewhat controversial selections of TJ Perenara and Sam Cane. They were departing for overseas clubs, players normally omitted in favour of those staying home and/or who needed development at top level.

What’s more, it didn’t really work. The win-loss ratio was ordinary, in the All Blacks context.

This year, Robertson and his henchmen have gone back to a tried-and-true formula: first, decide what type of game you want to play.

Second, select players best able to play that type of game.

They’ve done that – and yet some criticism of the non-selection of Ethan Blackadder has taken centre stage when Robertson should be congratulated on a move to a more recognisable and understandable strategy.

So how do they want to play? A few months ago, Robertson reviewed his first year as coach:

“By the end-of-year tour, we started to implement our DNA and how we wanted to play the game. We had the ball in our hands for long times and put a lot of pressure on teams. That will continue.

“Statistically, we made the most line breaks; most defenders beaten, most offloads and most carries in world rugby. We got better and better and our game understanding and calls embedded through the year – but we didn’t quite execute and finish enough.”

That explains the absences of Blackadder, David Havili, Chay Fihaki and, to a lesser extent, Joshua Fusitu’a and George Bower at loosehead prop.

Scott Robertson: "We started to implement our DNA and how we wanted to play the game." Photo / Dean Purcell

Blackadder first: committed, yes; a high-revving, high-endurance motor and a tireless tackler. Going forward? Not so much.

He simply doesn’t create problems for defences – and this All Blacks team, as Robertson said after the squad announcement, “needs to go through teams and around them”. Power and speed, in other words.

This column has been saying “one-trick pony” about Blackadder for some time and, even though his team won the Super Rugby Pacific final with a typically robust defensive showing from him, his carrying was plentiful but ineffective.

That’s why Samipeni Finau is there instead. The Chiefs No 6 is a bit of an enigma. He has discipline lapses which cost valuable penalties and sometimes puzzlingly drifts out of games. However, he has enormous potential and power with and without the ball. He is a coaching job.

Blackadder isn’t out of things yet; it’s not too hard to imagine he may be in the squad for the tests against the Springboks this year although another Chiefs loosie, Simon Parker, may have been closer than many think and could yet come into calculations.

Power is also why the excellent Quinn Tupaea is in the squad and the skilled Havili not, even in a midfield surprisingly boosted to six players.

It’s why Timoci Tavatavanawai is there. Anton Lienert-Brown and Billy Proctor provide the finesse and distribution and, if you think the selectors needed more power at 13 as well as 12, you need only look at the British and Irish Lions’ loss to Argentina last weekend.

They played Polynesian power packs Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu in midfield – and they suffered. The balance was wrong, helping to undermine the Lions’ chances as they chased the game. Jordie Barrett, Tupaea and Tavatavanawai are the iron fist; Lienert-Brown and Proctor more the velvet gloves.

Loosehead prop Ollie Norris makes the squad for more of the same reasons.

He has mobility aplenty and is a powerful ball carrier – best seen in his bravura performance against the Western Force this season.

Bower seems the superior scrummager but then count the average number of scrums per match against the average number of carries made by props these days.

That’s not to say the All Blacks give up on scrums; they have had continued success bringing new props up to scrummaging excellence. Fusitu’a also has fine mobility but was outshone by Bower in their Super Rugby Pacific semifinal – although Bower, like Blackadder, doesn’t offer a great deal going forwards.

The outside backs are only four in number with only two wings.

However, Rieko Ioane, Tavatavanawai and Will Jordan can cover that position. Ruben Love, Damian McKenzie and Jordie Barrett all cover fullback. Leroy Carter and Emoni Narawa are unlucky, particularly the latter and especially because Sevu Reece doesn’t appeal as a likely World Cup starter in 2027.

If they’d not been injured, you wonder if Kini Naholo – plenty of power and defence-testing running – and the blazing speed of Highlanders’ wing Caleb Tangitau might have meant a slightly different line-up.

However, Robertson has said he wants to play all 33 squad members against the French in July, trying to strike the right balance between the need to win and the need for development. He is to be complimented for, and encouraged in, that.

Paul Lewis writes about rugby, cricket, league, football, yachting, golf, the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.