Three wins from three but Razor wants more
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has put his team on notice with the seismic demotion of experienced centre Rieko Ioane. What was good enough through the tentative first steps of July will simply not pass muster in Rugby Championship mode.
Robertson’s rejigged New Zealand side opens the Championship with the first of back-to-back tests against Argentina in Wellington tonight, and the dropping of the 71-cap Ioane, who has been the firstchoice centre since 2021, sends a clear message to the entire squad.
After a shaky pair of July squeakers over England and an all-too-easy romp over Fiji in San Diego, the new coach is readying his men to go up a level.
They will need to, as well, with a brutal away double against the world champion Boks in South Africa to follow the Argentina openers, and then a Bledisloe backand-forth against the improving Wallabies to wrap things up for the southern hemisphere’s premier international competition.
When ‘Razor’ Robertson unveiled his match-day 23, the axing of Ioane, for dependable impact man Anton Lienert-Brown, was the undoubted feature. Ioane has been a long-term starter alongside Jordie Barrett in midfield, but on the back of a crash-and-bash role with the champion Blues, his distribution game appears to have suffered. Robertson needs more from his midfield linchpin, and the Aucklander’s spot on the bench spells that out in no uncertain terms.
The first-year coach said it was “important” to create a competitive environment in a group brimming with options. “My job is to create depth in the squad … so guys can step in, so they’re ready. To create depth you need to create competition; to create competition you need to train hard and take opportunities when they’re given. It’s a competitive market.”
Robertson could have gone further, and might well do so soon. Sevu Reece is fortunate to hold his wing spot ahead of the looming Caleb Clarke – “That was a long conversation and fine margins,” he said – and there is pressure also on around halfback, fullback, first five and the loose.
The untested lock combination of Tupou Vaa’i and rookie Sam Darry (his first start) get their chance thanks to injury, and have the runway to achieve takeoff.
Will Jordan’s presence is interesting. He returns from shoulder surgery rehab off the bench, but is the starting fullback in waiting. Beauden Barrett retains No 15 for now – deservedly so in the form he’s in – but it may not be long before he’s going head to head with Damian McKenzie for the first receiver’s role.
While Robertson was “pleased” with his team’s 3-0 July, he acknowledges improvement is required as the All Blacks look to use an Argentina side they have handled with ease the last three meetings (44-6, 41-12 and 53-3) as a launch pad to bigger and better things, and bust out of a capital hoodoo in the process. They haven’t won in Wellington since they toppled 14-man France in 2018.
The All Blacks are rightly wary of an Argentina side that rolled them in 2022 and 2020, but they should have too much firepower for a group still searching for its own identity under new coach Felipe Contepomi. They had their own issues in a split July series against a woefully understrength France.
“Argentines play with emotion, with passion … I became good friends with my amigo Pablo [Matera] and I understand where he draws his energy from,’’ Robertson said. “On their day they can scare, can frighten you … they can beat you. Their physicality and contact is a real point of difference. You have to do more than match it.”
Less than a year ago the All Blacks ran in seven tries in the World Cup semifinal in Paris to run the Pumas off the park. Wellington’s weather may inhibit that sort of a free-flowing contest, but the glaring contrast in skills at speed that day will be something Robertson is keen to replicate.
He also wouldn’t mind a loaded bench, where Asafo Aumua, Wallace Sititi, Cortez Ratima, Ioane and Jordan lurk with intent, finishing the job with style. “The utility factor is critical and those guys can create impact with their speed,” added the coach.
Stand-in skipper Ardie Savea also sent a message around standards. “It’s skillsets under pressure and being able to adapt and adjust to different situations within a game,” he said of the lessons from July. “It’s nailing the simple things.”