Patrick Tuipulotu happy with Damian McKenzie taking the lead

Patrick Tuipulotu’s actions often speak louder than his words, and his first All Blacks game as captain showcased why coach Scott Robertson put faith in the lock from Auckland.

During the week, Robertson was confident that his team would get behind Tuipulotu as captain, and he would relish the opportunity to lead the team out in Tokyo.

Tuipulotu has leadership experience, leading the Blues to the Super Rugby Pacific title earlier this year.

“There’s respect in the group for what he’s done and he’s been around for a long time and I think the boys will follow him,” Scott Robertson said after announcing Tuipulotu as captain in Scott Barrett’s absence. 

The All Blacks performance last night against Japan wasn’t perfect, in fact, patchy at times, but Scott Robertson will be pleased with the way his captain led from the front in a dominant forward pack showing. 

Tuipulotu believes the fast start from Japan put his team under early pressure.

“Japan wasn’t afraid to have a go from anywhere, put us under pressure, especially on defence, and especially at ruck time. They opened us up at the start, so that’s a big work on for us, in terms of our defence around the ruck,” he told reporters after the match.

The All Blacks under Scott Robertson have ultimately struggled to turn opportunities into points, particularly in the last quarter of the game. 

“I was happy with how we finished, it sort of went both ways, both teams sort of got lost in the middle, but we managed to fall into place and get some good go forward, and finish the game off.” 

With a lot of speculation about who Robertson’s first choice first-five is, Tuipulotu was content with trusting Damian McKenzie’s instinct with the ball in hand.

“We had a conversation, especially with Damian McKenzie and Sam Cane, they led really well after the TMO decision, we had that scrum on halfway, Damian McKenzie took the lead there and saw space after the scrum.

“He made that decision to go there and it paid off. A Lot of that comes down to the leaders, in that moment to have those guys stepping up it’s a luxury for myself as captain.” 

Japan constantly threatened the All Blacks defence, capitalizing on the errors that Scott Robertson’s side coughed up.

Tuipulotu admits his side put unnecessary pressure on themselves.

“Japan had most of the ball at times in that second half and we were defending most of the time, but when we did have the ball, we had quite a few opportunities. 

“Obviously, a knock-on, handling error or an error gave the ball back to them, which was quite tiring and soon holes opened up that the fast Japanese players were quick to pounce on.”