D'Arcy Waldegrave: Scott Robertson needs to come home undefeated.
No ifs, buts or maybes. No excuses. No shoulda coulda woulda. Scott Robertson needs to come home from the Northern tour undefeated. 4 zip. Grand Slam in tow. Am I expecting too much? Hell no. This is Razor’s mid-term exam. After being awarded a 4 year contract by NZR, an oddity in itself, the faith must be repaid. Repaid to the NZR but most importantly to the fans. Granted, World Cup victory is the ultimate measure of any international rugby team’s worth, a multitude of 4-year cycle result sins can be erased with success in one tournament, but NZ rugby fans won’t wait that long to taste Razors pudding. The proof of his tenure’s success is how tasty the spoonful is at the end of this tour. Soured by only one defeat will leave us all asking questions of the chef. This is a mini–World Cup. The last pool game, then a quarter, a semi and the final. Not that the Welsh will be in the WC final but hey. Short of the locks, this team is the best that the AB’s can muster. Their edge has been keenly sharpened on the whetstone of a pulsating and competitive Rugby Championship. They’ve had a couple of weeks off to breathe and reset, a swag of cavalry has returned and now we wait to see if Robertson has unlocked the door to international coaching success. He’s had a couple of years. He’s trialled many a player, many a game plan. He’s had his share of failures, the much maligned fourth quarter impotence for example, his inability to retain coaching staff, and he oversaw arguably the worst 40 minutes of All Black rugby in recent memory, the horror show in Wellington against the Springboks. So he’s been given rope, plenty of rope, what’s he going to do with it? Tie himself in knots, fashion a noose, who knows. I do know though, that 4 nil is a necessity for this side and this coach, and no correspondence will be entered into. Scott Robertson needs to come home from the Northern tour undefeated. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
New Zealand