Mils Muliaina says the All Blacks have a great team but something just isn’t clicking after their defeat to England on Sunday, the seventh under coach Scott Robertson.
The All Blacks great and Sky Sports analyst was asked by Herald NOW host Ryan Bridge whether it was time to partways with Robertson, to which Muliaina said no, but is wary that time is running out before the next World Cup.
“Not yet. There’s a bit of leeway at the moment. But we’ve got some big test matches next year, the Rugby World Cup is not too far away. A big South African tour next year and so you’ve got to get to a point where if they’re not producing results then perhaps...that job is brutal,” he said.
“He lost four tests last year, three now. But it’s probably the way we’ve lost. Nineteen of those guys in this squad were featured in the Rugby World Cup two years ago. So he hasn’t got an inexperienced side. He’s got a side that seems like they’re not really on the same page, particularly in key moments of the game. They came out of the break, they looked really fatigued and when they’re put under pressure they haven’t really responded - that’s when teams have been able to leak points.”
Muliaina believes the All Blacks have the players but something isn’t clicking after a third loss in 2025.
“It’s easy to jump the gun right now and that’s the expectation we should have – and we have over the years with All Blacks coaches. We’ve got a great team. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ve got the players to be able to it. It’s whatever is going on in the camp. They’re not quite connecting. Not quite understanding what to do when they are winning big moments and keeping the momentum going, but also when they’re really under pressure. They’re heavily resourced in terms of their mental side...there’s just something that’s not clicking.
“Typically, All Blacks you don’t let off, you don’t give moments back to opposition teams because they punish you and that’s exactly what happened over the weekend.”
Muliaina added that he felt hooker Codie Taylor was harshly sent to the bin early in the second half which sparked a 14-point third quarter for the English.
“To be fair, that yellow card probably shouldn’t have been a yellow card. They came out at the break and that certainly didn’t help. That was the first penalty the All Blacks conceded...not the right decision. But again, discipline did play a big part. I think coming out of the break has been a big factor for the All Blacks – we saw against the Springboks. Stuff that we’ve seen and hasn’t really been fixed.”
