The All Blacks’ coach Robertson talks about the unexpected loss to the Pumas.
Following his team’s 38-30 loss to Argentina in Wellington during their Rugby Championship opening, rookie All Blacks coach Scott Robertson is thinking back on what he may have done better. The All Blacks suffered their first defeat under Robertson since he replaced Ian Foster in November, thanks to tries from Lucio Cinti, Mateo Carreras, Franco Molina, and Agustin Creevy, as well as an eighteen-point haul from Santiago Carerras’ kick. Argentina scored 38 points, which was the most the All Blacks have ever given up in New Zealand.
After the game, former Crusaders coach Robertson advised, “You look at yourself first.” “You enquire: ‘What could I have done individually as the head coach, how could I have framed this week better, how could I have more edge?’ “Over the course of the next day, I’ll think. I’m not happy. I’m wounded. They will look to me, and I will see to it that everything is set up for them so that we can react this week.”
The All Blacks were far from dominant on Saturday, putting on an error-filled display to begin their Rugby Championship title defence. The All Blacks had crushed the Pumas 44-6 in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals in October. With 11 minutes remaining, Creevy snuck the ball across the line to give the Pumas their third victory over the All Blacks in 38 meetings, swinging the odds in Argentina’s favour.
Argentina dominated physically up front despite giving up a flurry of penalties in the first half, while New Zealand made some careless mistakes that cost them four tries while only scoring three.
“We put pressure on ourselves after every kick-off,” Robertson stated. That is really annoying. Following his fourth game in command of the team, Robertson continued, “When we did the simple things well, we looked great and then we reverted back to put pressure on ourselves.” You continually reconsider. We’ve spent five or six weeks together. In order for you to believe and then act, you must establish trust in your procedures. We now need to execute the plan correctly.”
The teams will play each other again on Saturday at Eden Park, the Auckland stronghold and home of the All Blacks since 1994. Conversely After losing to South Africa and Ireland and drawing with both Australia and South Africa, the All Blacks have now lost five straight games in Wellington.