Scott Robertson labels newest All Black 'the future'

The next generation of All Blacks talent is filtering in and making an immediate impact, even under the bright lights of Stade de France.

All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson, despite his side falling to an agonising one-point loss against a resilient French outfit, wore a smile for just a moment as he reflected on the performance of his 21-year-old openside flanker Peter Lakai, who was thrust into the Test off the bench in just the first minute when Samipeni Finau suffered a head knock.

With just 30 minutes of Test rugby against Japan under his belt, the youngster stepped into one of rugby’s most pressurised arenas against a global heavyweight and got straight to work, making 13 carries and leading his side with a dozen tackles without a single miss.

It’s a performance that left a strong impression on his coach and proved exactly why Lakai has been touted for international success since he was a teenager.

“Exceptional, wasn’t he? I’m really looking forward to watching the game back to see him in a little bit more detail,” Robertson reflected postmatch with the Sky Sports panel.

“I’m really pleased for him. He’s the future as well. There were some great performances out there from a lot of guys.”

Lakai himself cut a very composed figure post-match, saying while his early entrance in the game was more than he had bargained for, he was ready.

“I was excited, embraced it, I knew I was ready with my detail. As a bench player, you don’t prepare yourself to go on that early but I’m just glad I could go on and the boys helped me,” he told media in Paris following the exhausting 80 minutes.

While Finau’s early departure was an unfortunate twist early in the Test, the plan for the Kiwis was always for Lakai to slot into the openside flanker role, shifting Ardie Savea to No. 8 and Wallace Sititi to the blindside.

It took just seven minutes for Lakai to get his name on the scoresheet, scoring the opening try of the game to finish a classy attaching passage of the play by the All Blacks.

🇳🇿 New Zealand open the scoring in Paris!

💪 Flair, strength and power get the @AllBlacks on the scoreboard!#AutumnNationsSeries | #FRAvNZL pic.twitter.com/fohGhEBllP

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— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) November 16, 2024

“It felt good, but full credit to Ardie, he probably broke about four tackles in the lead-up and I was in the right place at the right time,” Lakai said, reflecting on his first try for the All Blacks.

“The French pack, they’re big and physical. I just wanted to get my hands on the ball early and put a bit of feet on and put my head down and try and get underneath them. That was my main goal coming into the game, get my hands on the ball.”

The experience of playing in front of an 80,000-strong Parisian crowd in full voice which he labelled “electric” would have to be considered a grand tone-setter for the young gun’s career in black, but Lakai had a measured review of his evening on the park.

“Yeah, I’ll take a bit of confidence from that. 79 minutes, the flow of the game was quite quick in the first half and once I got my second wind I was into things. I was comfortable out there which was good.”

The loose forward trio was an explosive mix for the Kiwis, with blockbusting rookie Wallace Sititi and reigning World Rugby Player of the Year Ardie Savea joining Lakai to form an athletic and hard-nosed unit.

Savea is something of a hero to both his back row partners, and for Lakai to line up alongside the 31-year-old on such a stage was something special for the young man.

“It’s always unreal to take the field with Ardie. My first year in the Canes last year, he was there, so when I came on Ardie just made me feel comfortable out there with his leadership and his voice. The whole forward pack and everyone in the team just back each other and give each other confidence to go out there and do a job.”