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All Blacks’ 2024 schedule: 10 is the magic number in Scott Roberton’s first year
It’s a big year for the All Blacks. Some might see that as a redundant statement – it’s always a big year for the men in black – but there’s something a little different in the air after the heartbreak of last year’s Rugby World Cup final.
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Ian Foster is gone. The formerly under-fire coach bowed out with a World Cup runners-up medal draped around his neck at Stade de France last October. There was no fairytale finish for the man affectionally known as ‘Fozzie.’
But the new dawn of a new era is upon New Zealand Rugby. Much to the delight of many, Scott Robertson was named as Fosters’ successor in early 2023.
Seven-time Super Rugby champion coach Scott Robertson is considered the man who can take the All Blacks back to where they belong: the top.
Robertson gathered 22 All Blacks for a brief two-day camp in Auckland early in the new year which was a sign of intent, determination and urgency. Test match footy isn’t that far away.
The All Blacks’ playing future in 2024 was revealed to the public on Thursday morning. It’s an intriguing 14-match season which includes a trip to the U.S of A to play the Flying Fijians.
It’s exciting, but Robertson’s judgement is nigh. By the time the All Blacks walk off the field after playing Italy on their Northern Tour – their last dance for the year – the new-look All Blacks will either be scrutinised or praised.
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For it to be the latter, it’s time to be realistic. 10 is the magic number for Scott Robertson’s All Blacks in 2024 – that should be widely seen as their winning pass mark.
Robertson’s first two Tests will be against Steve Borthwick’s England during the July internationals. New Zealand will host their traditional foe in Dunedin on July 6 and Auckland on the 13th.
The All Blacks need to win both. No ifs, buts or maybes, losing is not an option.
If it hadn’t been for a famous Springboks fightback in one of last year’s World Cup semi-finals, England would’ve played the All Blacks in the big one. They’re two very good teams – England could very well take out the Six Nations – but winning on home soil is a must.
Since the start of the new World Cup cycle in 2020, the All Blacks failed to win four Tests in New Zealand. They only played 15 – losing more than a quarter of their Tests (26.67). It started with a shock draw to the Wallabies in Wellington, included two defeats to Ireland, and an upset against Argentina in Christchurch.
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For the All Blacks to return to world No. 1 status, that needs to change.
Then the All Blacks head north to the Land of the Free where they’ll take on the Flying Fijians in San Diego.
“The Fijians know their way around the world, and they’ll come out from everywhere,” coach Robertson said in a statement. “I know a lot of Kiwis will make the trip as well.”
Fiji have never beaten the All Blacks in seven meetings and Robertson can’t afford for that to change. If the World Cup fan favourites did get the better of their heavily fancied opponents, it would be an upset that’d echo throughout rugby history forever.
But the caveat to all this is the grand stage that is America. A neutral Test in the USA can be distracting for the All Blacks – let’s not forget what happened in 2016 against Ireland in Chicago.
Still, the All Blacks should be three from three at this stage.
But this is where it gets tricky.
After starting their Rugby Championship campaign with two wins over Argentina on New Zealand soil, the All Blacks will come up against the two-time defending world champions away.
The Springboks will host their arch-rivals in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and they’ll be very tough to beat at either of those venues. Winning at altitude at Ellis Park would have to be considered far more likely than getting one over the Boks at DHL Stadium.
At the very best, the All Blacks will split that series 1-1.
Then there’s the Wallabies. It’s hard to know what to say about the men in gold.
Having moved on from Eddie Jones and the disappointment of last year’s World Cup pool stage exit, Rugby Australia has signed Joe Schmidt as the Wallabies’ new head coach – a major coup for Aussie rugby.
Schmidt will transform the Wallabies in ways that his predecessors Dave Rennie and Eddie Jones couldn’t. This Wallabies team could even challenge for Rugby Championship glory – you can screenshot this, too.
Expect the Wallabies to get the better of the All Blacks in Sydney – ending New Zealand’s four-match winning streak in the Harbour City. But the All Blacks have a history of Trans-Tasman dominance across the ditch, and fans will want to see that continue.
The All Blacks will likely retain the Bledisloe Cup, and, if the rest plays out as expected, they’ll have won seven from nine Tests by the end of September.
The Northern Tour will be tough. After playing Japan in Yokohama, the New Zealanders will take on some of the world’s best teams.
Many would consider Japan and England the underdogs in the first two Tests of the All Blacks[ trip north, but Ireland and France at home – venues TBC – will be overwhelming favourites themselves.
The All Blacks have never lost to Italy and that shouldn’t change in 2024.
By the end of 2024, the All Blacks should’ve won at least 10 Test matches. That’s the pass mark. That’s what fans should expect.
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All Blacks vs England at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium on July 6
All Blacks vs England at Auckland’s Eden Park on July 13
All Blacks vs Fiji at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium on July 20
Lipovitan D-Rugby Championship
All Blacks vs Argentina at Wellington’s Sky Stadium on August 10
All Blacks vs Argentina at Auckland’s Eden Park on August 17
South Africa vs All Blacks at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park on August 31
South Africa vs all Blacks at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium on September 7
Australia vs All Blacks at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on September 21
All Blacks vs Australia at Wellington’s Sky Stadium on September 28
Lipovitan D-Challenge Cup
Japan vs All Blacks at Yokohama’s Nissan Stadium on October 26
Northern Tour
England vs All Blacks at London’s Twickenham on November 2
Ireland vs All Blacks at TBC on November 9
France vs All Blacks at TBC on November 16
Italy vs All Blacks at TBC on November 23
Comments on RugbyPass
If he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
81 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
2 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
81 Go to comments