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Scott Robertson: 'There's so much good stuff that we did out there'
By Henry Lee
The All Blacks‘ 33-19 defeat at the hands of England at Allianz Stadium was the team’s third loss in 2025, with Steve Borthwick’s side ending Scott Robertson’s hopes of securing a Grand Slam on this end-of-year tour.
Robertson’s side started the game on the front foot, getting out to a 12-0 lead after 19 minutes through tries from Leicester Fainga’anuku and Codie Taylor.
But from there, it was almost all England as the home side scored 25 straight points before the two teams traded tries before the final whistle.
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Robertson, who was clearly disappointed in the post-match press conference, says that there was a lot of good in what they did against England despite the defeat.
“Well, they [England] just finished a bit more than us. I think we created a lot. There’s so much good stuff that we did out there, we just didn’t take advantage of it,” the All Blacks head coach told media in London.
“Our self control was really good in the first half and we had some really good opportunities, which we didn’t take.
“12 nil up, missed a couple kicks for the corner, and then we were trying to be brave and put them in there and keep the points and the momentum going, and we missed them.
“They get a couple of drop goals, come out and then a yellow card, games swing so quickly and we know what Test match football is like, and we just needed to finish more.”
For the past couple of Test matches, the All Blacks have struggled to come out of the blocks in the second half, after starting well again in London against England.
When asked about why they are struggling in the third quarter of Test matches, Robertson explains he’s still not been able to put a finger on where it’s going wrong.
“No because if I did, that wouldn’t happen, we’ve tried a lot at training and to educate ourselves as much as we possibly can around what it takes to keep that momentum, keep pressure on teams.
“Obviously, hasn’t happened so it’s a little bit frustrating, we’ve put so much work into it and it’s definitely an area of growth,” Robertson said.
Robertson’s side played England three times last year, two at home in the July series, before winning 24-22 at Allianz Stadium in November this time last year.
The All Blacks head coach believes that England have become more clinical in taking opportunities, which is where they’ve made the most progress since last year’s Tests.
“I think they’re good at taking opportunities, that’s probably the biggest thing that they’ve done, they were tough Tests last year, but they’ve taken their opportunities tonight, where they probably didn’t last time and we did in those small margins.”
