All Blacks legend claims Scott Robertson’s side are ‘in survival mode’ and only taking ‘very small steps’
Former All Blacks star Jeff Wilson is not entirely convinced that Scott Robertson’s men are trending in the right direction after their Twickenham escape.
New Zealand went into the final quarter of the clash on Saturday 22-14 down and looked set for yet another defeat in a mixed 2024 so far.
Robertson’s side struggled in the latter stages of games during the Rugby Championship but they managed to reverse that trend in London.
Late comeback
Damian McKenzie’s penalty and Mark Tele’a’s try in the last 15 minutes snatched a 24-22 triumph as the All Blacks began their European tour with an important victory.
But it led Wilson to claim on The Breakdown: “We got by, we survived, it feels like we are in survival mode right now.”
2011 Rugby World Cup winner Stephen Donald was also on the panel and disagreed with Wilson, stating that it was a victory which has typified the All Blacks’ mindset over the years.
“I think this sets us up, Goldie said this is survival mode, but for me those are games that the All Blacks do win, and that’s what the legacy is built on winning games that, you know, maybe with 10 or 15 left to go many of us thought that England were gonna chalk up a famous day at Twickenham,” Donald said.
Wilson then admitted that he forced himself to reassess Saturday’s encounter after initially being frustrated by the All Blacks’ performance against England.
“I was a little bit disappointed because I thought we could have played better and there were moments I felt we let ourselves down,” he said.
“But I suppose you’ve then got to check yourself and remember that you’re playing England at Twickenham for some young guys who are experiencing that for the first time.
“To then come over and do something that we haven’t done all season, which is win the last 20 minutes. We gave them an opportunity to win the game, they weren’t good enough to take it, but that would suggest that we are learning.”
Ex-All Black hits out at ‘worst performance’ under Scott Robertson as England ‘wave the white flag’
‘Very small steps’
New Zealand’s tour to the northern hemisphere is crucial for the team and their head coach, who was under slight pressure following their disappointing Rugby Championship campaign.
It has started well enough with that narrow victory over England but it does not get any easier for the All Blacks.
They take on Ireland and France over the next couple of weeks, two teams that are above the Red Rose in the World Rugby rankings.
Wilson insists that they have not made vast improvements over the course of this year but did put a positive spin on their end-of-year series.
“At the moment these are very small steps,” he added. “I would be happy now if we get through to the end of the season and we are finishing with a bit of momentum, but we’ll grow a lot from this whole campaign.
“I think everyone’s going to be a lot better because, not just what happened in the Rugby Championship but what happened at Twickenham.”