Crusaders coach Scott Robertson, in the unusual position of rallying his side after an opening Super Rugby defeat, has brushed off questions about whether the All Blacks head coaching drama has been a distraction for him and the defending champions.
Facing the media in Christchurch ahead of Friday’s match against the Highlanders in Melbourne – part of Super Rugby Pacific’s “super round” – Robertson said some big lessons had been learned by the Crusaders following their 31-10 thrashing by the Chiefs last weekend and that outside factors were not applicable.
Speaking before New Zealand Rugby announced that a decision on the next All Blacks head coach would be made in the next four to six weeks, Robertson, in the running for the job - said when asked about possible distractions: “I think it’s probably a question for everyone else rather than myself".
“I’ve got a job to do and a job to finish here, so that’s my clear focus," he said. "I just come in with the same energy every day. You can look into it what you want but I’m here.”
Asked about what he could do to prepare his side for what has been a near frenzy of speculation over the last three weeks about incumbent Ian Foster’s role and Robertson’s part in the selection process, he said:
“[I] just have a chat with the leadership group and say ‘there’s something that could become quite popular with the media’, which it is, and say, ‘look, I’m here present with you, just tell me if you feel we need to have any conversations along the way – just be open and up front’.
“They’ve been great, we have a lot of experienced crew. This has been going on for a few years now.”
Such was the disparity between quality shown by the Chiefs and Crusaders in Christchurch at the weekend that questions were always going to be asked about whether the ongoing soap opera had started to affect Robertson and his men.
After going up 10-0 despite a poor kicking game from first-five Richie Mo’unga, among others, they conceded a try to Brodie Retallick just before halftime and the visitors steamrolled them in the second half.
The Chiefs were excellent across the field - particularly Retallick and inside back Damian McKenzie - but the Crusaders missed far too many tackles, failed to put any sustained pressure on their opponents, and their normally dominant pack will likely have had the blowtorch applied at training this week.
“There are a couple of critical few things we need to focus on to get right,” Robertson said. “We weren’t far away from away in a lot of areas of the game.
“There were some awesome efforts and some incredible performances. There were a couple of things in the game we just need to get better at – get those right and the rest works itself out.”
Asked whether he would like the Crusaders to make a statement against a Highlanders team who were thrashed 60-20 by the Blues in Dunedin, he said: “We’d like to perform at our best in round two, yeah.”
Veteran All Blacks and Crusaders lock Sam Whitelock returns from head knock which ruled him out of round one, but loose forward Cullen Grace, an early casualty against the Chiefs, is out due to a shoulder injury for which he may require surgery.
Prop Fletcher Newell is also out due to a knee injury and a foot issue.
The Highlanders are still missing halfback Aaron Smith, who is having an extended break and should be available for round three against the Chiefs, along with loose forward Marino Mikaele-Tu’u, who has damaged ribs. Prop Ethan de Groot and loose forward Shannon Frizell are out due to All Blacks’ load management.
Crusaders flanker Tom Christie said the Chiefs result was a stark lesson. “Hopefully this week we can show what we have learned and continue that through the rest of the season,” he said.
SHARE ME