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Scott Robertson's take on Marcus Smith and the England players who impressed
By Ben Smith
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson has offered his view on the standout England players from the first Test as well as Marcus Smith after his missed goals proved pivotal.
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The 25-year-old flyhalf finished two from five off the tee with a number of makeable mid-range shots from roughly 30-40 metres out sailing wide. With the final score 16-15, goal kicking proved to be the difference in the end.
Robertson was reluctant to offer advice to Borthwick on whether Smith should be selected for the second Test at Eden Park but did say No 10s need time at this level.
“That’s one for Steve [Borthwick], I’ve got my own team to worry about,” Roberston joked when asked if Marcus deserves another run.
Smith was the first choice No 10 in 2022 starting most of England’s Tests that year but lost the role to George Ford in 2023 under Borthwick.
Back in the saddle in 2024, Smith now has 25 starts for England, three of which came at fullback.
The All Black coach pointed to history that showed why Smith should be persisted with.
“There’s a lot on your plate and it takes time to understand Test footy and the pressure of it,” Robertson said on No 10s at this level.
“History shows that you know, it’s time on field on your feet learning a couple of lessons.
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“Marcus is a hell of a player and will be better for last night.”
On the players who impressed Robertson in the first Test, he singled out Kiwi blindside Chandler Cunningham-Smith and halfback Alex Mitchell as outstanding performers.
Cunningham-Smith made his presence felt at the breakdown while Mitchell’s attacking skills caught his eye.
“I thought Chandler, he’s just such a heavy body with the ball. I thought Alex was great when he got quick ball around the base of the ruck,” Robertson said.
“A couple of doubles [pumps] and faints, handing guys off the ball into space. They were sharp, off the top of my head [those two] were sharp.”
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On the areas where England surprised the All Blacks, it was the trio of Cunningham-South, Sam Underhill and Ben Earl who made life difficult on the ground.
“I just think the breakdown with and without the ball, how hard they were at the ball,” he said.
“They’ve got some great operators, they’ve got good low loosies and they just attack it so quickly.
“They get their hands on the ball you know. Our guys try and counter the ruck but their efficiency to read and anticipate is pretty special.
“And like I said the line speed, they flew at you.”
He moved to NZ aged 4 and having never touched a rugby ball. He moved back to England over 15 years later, 100% a kiwi and product of the NZ rugby system. Almost as kiwi as Stoksey or Gatland
“100% a kiwi” his birth certificate might disagree. But yeah definitely benefitted from a kiwi upbringing
Chandler Cunningham-South is English btw…
Chandler-Bing-Cunningham-Fonz
I’d bet he’s both a Kiwi and an Englishman. No big deal really, some people are fortunate enough to have dual nationality..
For heaven’s sake 😂. Again with the “Kiwi Chandler Cunningham South” rubbish. CCS is no more a kiwi than I am Chinese because I went to school in HK in the 80s. He was born in Sidcup to English parents. Whenever an English player so much as goes on holiday somewhere the rugby press have to lead articles with the descriptor of wherever he went. “Norwegian convert Farrell, who once visited Oslo on a school trip in 2002..” Meanwhile, never a mention of the Englishness of dozens of genuinely English players playing for Wales and Scotland. Bore off
As Dmac also missed a few kicks, I think it’s fair to say the conditions in the poly-tunnel greenhouse probably contributed. Smith will start for England at Eden. He was at the heart of a lot of the stuff England did well.
Expect another close game this weekend. Borthwick and the players will be desperate to get a win. England’s problems at prop are well documented, but I also think England have a lack depth on the bench. There was a discernible loss of dynamism in Dunedin when Borthwick emptied the bench.
I’d wager he’ll give the players more free-reign to run it more this week rather than box kicking. I think he’ll also try and get Feyi-Waboso on the ball a bit more.
Last game of what has been a long season for a lot of these England players and I hope they have enough left in the tank to show everyone what they can do.
Maybe he will give them more free-reign to box kick rather than running.
Yeah similar analysis to me. As much as Randall's kicking sucks I think they need to bring him back in for Spencer. That's two games now that Spencer has come off the bench and all our tempo has gone. They need to leave Fin Smith on the bench too unless Marcus is injured, he's not done anything in any game he's come on, just ships the ball on like it's a training run, even his kick to touch near the end of the match was very conservative. He's not ready for test rugby at this level.
England defended like Spartans but threw very few punches of their own, I think we'll see a bit more swagger with the confidence gained from the first match and keeping the ball in hand (I hope!). If so I think we can win. I honestly think the first game performance was quite subpar from England and there is a lot more to come.