Now that the rugby year has finished, All Blacks coach Scott Robertson will make a detailed submission to New Zealand Rugby about the benefits of selecting eligible players from overseas clubs for the national side.
In an interview with New Zealand media after his side’s mistake-ridden 29-11 victory over Italy in Turin, the All Blacks’ 14th and final Test of his first year in charge, Robertson confirmed he would submit a presentation to the new board about the requirement to keep evolving in the professional game.
Robertson has previously asked the board to keep an “open mind” about the possibility of selecting players from overseas clubs – the two main examples are first-five Richie Mo’unga and loose forward Shannon Frizell who are both at Toshiba in Japan. They last played for New Zealand at last year’s World Cup in France.
He will now up the ante in a bid not only to evolve his All Blacks team ahead of the 2027 World Cup but also to keep up with South Africa, the world champions who have shown the virtues of selecting players from overseas, at least as far as the Springboks are concerned.
“I think South Africa, the model they run, how it’s structured, old, new, all [players] available [is the ideal],” Robertson said. “Some play in Northern Hemisphere, some in Southern Hemisphere and their own country. All selectable.
“You cannot replace Test experience – that’s one thing I’ve learned. Hence why Sam Cane has been so valuable. That’s the consistency that South Africa have at the moment.
“Potentially, if you’re going to keep an open mind, you might look at the opportunity of [selecting] guys [from overseas] who have shown a lot of loyalty to us.“
Robertson, speaking at the team’s hotel in the early hours of the morning after farewelling Cane and fellow veteran TJ Perenara – both are set to take up contracts at Japanese clubs – has been reluctant to expand on his plans because of his respect for the current squad.
“I wanted to reflect a little bit and make sure I respected the current group before anything happened,” he said.
There is also the more pragmatic reason that the governance change the board is undergoing means there will be new faces to present to early next year.
Robertson said it was important to take all of New Zealand rugby into account when considering tinkering with the selection protocols, and not just the All Blacks.
But it’s clear that he believes change is necessary to stay competitive. The All Blacks won 10 of 14 Tests this year and are currently ranked No.3 in the world behind South Africa and Ireland.
They were as high as second before last weekend’s one-point loss to France in Paris.
Robertson and his coaching group have uncovered a new star in loose forward Wallace Sititi this year, and have developed their front rowers, including Tamaiti Williams, and lock Tupou Vaa’i enormously, but questions remain about the loose forwards mix and first-five in particular.
Regarding the latter, Damian McKenzie hasn’t taken his opportunities this year as he perhaps would have liked and Beauden Barrett will turn 34 next May.
It’s clear too why Robertson likes the Boks’ model so much.
“They’ve got a got a great balance. They’ve got youth coming through, they’ve got great benches, they finish over top of teams and they’ve got big squads – they can have two really quality XVs.
“What does that look like for us? How many players would we bring back? My next step is whether it’s case by case – what is the potential opportunity moving forward.
“We don’t want to be a cycle behind or a few years behind… we’ll get the stakeholders around it.
“Professional rugby is always evolving, you’ve always got to be a step ahead. Let’s see what’s next, so I’ll definitely be presenting, yes.”
As for this morning’s Test, Robertson said: “It wasn’t the finish we wanted. We wanted the energy and performance of the three or four weeks before.”
He added of Italy, ranked 10th in the world: “They’re a good team, man.
“I’m just pleased we found a way and stayed composed and got the job done.”
The All Blacks’ losses this year were against Argentina, South Africa (twice) and France. The latter three were all played away from home and the All Blacks were leading all four Tests at halftime.
The 38-30 defeat to the Pumas in Wellington had few redeeming qualities and should be considered the worst performance of the year, but this morning’s may have come close.
“We had three games within a one-score margin,” Robertson said of the defeats to the Boks and France.
“We didn’t take it and we had a chance to win all of those. You learn about game management. You learn your roles and responsibilities but also how to set up the team to win those moments. You learn how to deal with refs, northern refs, calls that go for you and don’t go for you.”
Is the framework there?
“I believe so. We’ve played some awesome footy. I’ll say that honestly. We’ve played some incredible halves – 40, 50, 60 minutes. We just haven’t finished.
“We’ve been brave, we’ve asked the boys to throw the pass, back your skill, play with width, or we scrum them or we maul them. We just haven’t quite put it all together. The framework is there, the structure is there. But probably the consistency is the big thing for us.
“When we hold the ball and build pressure we’ll beat anyone any day. The skill set of our tight five, the ability to tip or hook out the back, carry, footwork, we’ve got some real depth now. Everybody said we had a lock crisis but now we have a little bit of depth coming through.”
Robertson also confirmed he was aware that Perenara would add his own special touch to the haka this morning.
"He’s decided to do it and he’s done it with the aspect of unity. It’s his right to say that.
"I asked what the concept was around it and he said it’s a sign of unity."
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