Robertson on the All Blacks' Tight Losses and Turning Points in 2024
All BlacksNovember 25, 2024
Lessons in how important some moments in Test match rugby are have been a feature of the 2024 All Blacks campaign.
In the wake of the 29-11 win over Italy in Turin, coach Scott Robertson said his best review would be after spending some time in the sun but in the closeness of three of the Test matches they lost, there were lessons about the need to secure critical moments, to learn to deal with referees and how to manage the games.
Three of their losses were within one score.
"The first time you do something is always the hardest. We've learned along the way and 120 nights later, we're sitting here talking and you learn a lot about Test footy."
Robertson acknowledged Italy's effort. They were passionate, as expected, and applied pressure on the All Blacks to show the advance Italian rugby has made.
The All Blacks were not able to play with the level of energy required, although Robertson said they did everything they could to be at that point.
But they could see from the height the players were carrying the ball that they couldn't get their collisions right, collisions they had won for much of the year. Italy choked them and slowed New Zealand's ball down. Mindset led to structure, and they didn't get their structure and skill set right.
"We named a really strong team because we knew how tough it was."
The game was played on a field only 65 metres wide, and with dewy conditions and Italy effective in contact, it was always going to be tough.
In the game's immediate aftermath, Robertson said he didn't believe the lack of energy had anything to do with selecting experienced players ahead of others who had not had so much game time on the tour.
It was hard to get the flow into the game that the All Blacks like to play with.
"One thing we've realised coming north with Test football, where it is with the TMO and the stop-start games, is that it has to get the flow and fatigue in there. We'd like to have had a little more pace and played with a bit of ball. So the entirety of the Test match, and ball in play, varies week-to-week, especially on a night like this with a little bit of a greasy ball and stopping checks. But that's Test footy, and that's going to happen, you react to what is in front of you.
"You've got to find a way and the set piece, especially the scrum was really strong and a big turning point for us."
Italy fielded their best team of the year, and the All Blacks knew from their Six Nations games with France and Scotland that they would apply pressure at the breakdown.
"The whole mindset was to finish well, but to do that, you've got to start well. They started well, and that kept them in the game. We fought, and I'm really proud of the defence on the goal line.
"Sometimes it's not perfect, sometimes it's not pretty, but you have got to be stubborn and find a way."
Captain Scott Barrett said that retiring halfback TJ Perenara told him he would say a mihi when leading the haka and that it was a message of unity about the Treaty of Waitangi.
