One year on from the shaky opening of his All Blacks tenure, Scott Robertson’s sophomore season should begin to display lessons learned from his challenging elevation to the test scene.
This time last year, in the same southern city, palpable anticipation accompanied Robertson’s maiden test at the helm of the All Blacks. Lofty expectations – unrealistic, upon reflection – for the dawn of a new era to immediately usher in a swift revolution did not come to fruition.
Robertson arrived in the hot seat fully aware of the pressures, demands and responsibility leading the All Blacks brings, having played 23 tests and been involved in professional rugby since 1996.
Living and breathing test rugby’s fine-line margins, the refereeing decisions, blown chances, is a different beast, though, when the buck stops with you.
Sitting in the coaching box, unable to drastically influence the result, is an emotive rollercoaster ride.
Robertson savoured unprecedented Super Rugby success – presiding over seven straight titles with the Crusaders – but there’s no honeymoon, little leeway, as All Blacks head coach.
With 18 new management staff joining Robertson’s arrival, the All Blacks’ largest coaching change in two decades, last year was no smooth transition.
As they attempted to get on the same page with new personnel, new language and moves, the All Blacks coaching team overloaded players in their first week together, which resulted in clutter clouding instinctive expression.
Relief was the overriding emotion bottled under the Dunedin roof as the All Blacks escaped Robertson’s first test in charge with a one-point victory – thanks in large part to England playmaker Marcus Smith enduring a horror test off the tee.
The rematch at Eden Park the following week proved a similar near thing as Beauden Barrett saved the All Blacks with a match-winning cameo off the bench that left England heading home with a sense of “what if”.
While Robertson’s All Blacks improved as the year progressed, with victory against Ireland in Dublin the notable highlight, those rocky early steps set the tone for a testing year that finished with a 10-4 record – a patchy pass mark for a team determined to regain their status as the world’s best.
Twelve months on, Robertson’s All Blacks return to Dunedin better placed to navigate their second season.
The extended coaching team is largely settled after Scott Hansen assumed the attack brief after Leon MacDonald’s abrupt mid-year departure, and Tamati Ellison’s contact and breakdown expertise were summoned. The only minor tweak this year is Hurricanes’ lineout specialist Bryn Evans replacing Corey Flynn’s part-time throwing services.
Robertson’s management team will be wiser for absorbing their shared experiences. They are no longer a new group learning on the job. They know exactly what to expect.
They have settled on a defined vision for tackling year two that, style-wise, centres on big ball carriers such as Jordie Barrett and Samipeni Finau consistently punching forward, set-piece strength, attacking space and chasing turnovers.
“We want to play fast,” Robertson said. “We think the game is in a great place for us; quick scrums, quick lineouts, taps. Our skill set trends to us playing fast and creating. That’s what we’ll push all week.”
Robertson’s 33-man squad for three tests against the understrength French now contains six rookies after starting loose forward Wallace Sititi and powerhouse prop Tamaiti Williams dropped out for surgery.
Last year, the All Blacks blooded 10 rookies after the traditional post-World Cup departures. Yet as defeats amplified pressure to perform, an inherent conservatism significantly stunted development, with progressive selections only made when injuries forced their hand.
The final test of the year against Italy was one glaring missed opportunity to grow fringe prospects.
This year, Robertson is promising to be braver and bolder in promoting new talent.
Other than the six fresh faces, Hurricanes centre Billy Proctor needs much more game time after he sat idle for the whole of last year’s Rugby Championship.
After reviewing year one, with the one-point loss to France in Paris that cost the All Blacks an unbeaten northern tour considered pivotal to how the side evolves, Robertson is clear on where his side must improve.
In all four tests the All Blacks lost last year, they led at halftime, which shines the spotlight on impact from the bench, attacking accuracy to convert chances and discipline.
“A lot of our review in the offseason was around that game because we gave ourselves so many chances to win it but we didn’t, so why?” Robertson said.
“We felt we had our best two weeks with the Irish and French and we didn’t get the result we deserved. Sometimes you don’t get that in test matches with the bounce of the ball.”
As a collective, the All Blacks coaches learned how to manage this start to the season. A compressed 10-day window does not require everything to be thrown into the pot, which risks leaving players drowning in information overload.
Stripping back what’s important now and adopting a staggered, layered approach is a big takeaway from this time last year.
“It’s a fine balance because you’ve got to give them enough but not too much,” Robertson said. “You might go through the lineouts and you get a few more than you think and you’ve used up the menu so what are we going to go to now?
“We’ve got a lot of experience here. You get great feedback, you check in.”
Robertson is outwardly nervous about the narrative surrounding the French B team – as there is potential for it to be painted as a lose-lose scenario for the All Blacks.
Suffer a shock upset, or underwhelm, against a French squad featuring 18 out of 37 players who are uncapped and the early jitters could set in again.
Blow the tourists away under the roof this weekend and many will point to the long list of absent frontline French starters with only five Top 14 finalists – lock Joshua Brennan (Toulouse), flankers Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer and Pierre Bochaton (Bordeaux-Bègles), midfielders Nicolas Depoortere (Bordeaux-Bègles) and Pierre-Louis Barassi (Toulouse) – en route to New Zealand.
This series should, therefore, allow Robertson the freedom to bank early-season momentum while utilising his full squad before a Rugby Championship campaign that involves two tests in Argentina and the Springboks attempting to break the All Blacks’ 50-test unbeaten status at Eden Park.
“One thing about the French is they have depth. He [French coach Fabien Galthié] has done that over the last few years with the players he’s brought in. This is when they’re probably at their most dangerous, when they are underestimated.
“It’s quite nice you guys tell the story that they are depleted and then they get their backs up and we get a ferocious French team.”
On a personal level, Robertson remains authentic with connection, pride, passion and values central to his coaching methods. He has been careful to increasingly distance himself from ties to the Crusaders and is guarded with his public utterances, wary of sparking headlines.
Striking a balance between on and off time in the intensity of a test week is an ongoing balancing act, too.
Robertson loves a theme – basing last year’s northern tour on the Invincibles and their 32-match unbeaten venture abroad.
This week, he doesn’t have to search far for a common cause, with the All Blacks losing their last three tests to France.
“2018 is a long time since we’ve sung a song in our changing room after we’ve won, so we’re well aware of the contest ahead.”
There’s symmetry in the All Blacks’ last 49-14 victory over the French coming in Dunedin – in the same mid-year window.
A similar result to start Robertson’s year two would not surprise.
Liam Napier is a Senior Sports Journalist and Rugby Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. He is a co-host of the Rugby Direct podcast.
For live commentary of this weekend’s All Blacks v France test, go to GOLD SPORT or iHeartRadio.