What mind games is Scott Robertson playing in 2025?

The All Blacks have played 14 Test series this decade, winning eight via clean sweeps and going winless in just one – last year’s Rugby Championship effort against the Springboks. In the five series where results were split, all but one saw a first-up loss followed by a win. The timeline of those losses tells us it’s a more recent trend.

In 2025, Scott Robertson is looking to cut the head off that snake.

On September 6, the All Blacks will host the Springboks at Eden Park, putting a mind-boggling 31-year unbeaten run on the line. Then, they’ll travel to Wellington for game 2. There may be a sequel, but there are no second chances. No re-runs. No revisions. A historic record will either survive or be submitted to the history books with an end date attached.

Never before has a Rugby Championship Test series started at Eden Park – Covid-era aside, Eden Park openers have been reserved exclusively for three-Test July series since South Africa’s 2010 Tri Nations visit. The Boks haven’t even touched Eden Park soil since 2013.

In the context of the Eden Park record, that’s 15 years of having a practice run before the main event, which is half of the record’s period.

The rivalry, the narratives, the history; this has always been an Eden Park-worthy matchup. It may well be a coliseum-worthy matchup. But only now, with a new coaching group dripping with enthusiasm, has the fixture been set.

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

1

Draws

0

Wins

4

Average Points scored

17

24

First try wins

40%

Home team wins

60%

The schedule change represents a shift in attitude instilled by the new All Blacks boss, Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson, whose dominance at all levels preceding his All Blacks appointment proved how well he understands athletes and how to motivate them for the big occasions. Scratch that, he doesn’t motivate people, he “inspires people to be motivated” – a direct quote from the coach himself.

In this sense, unlike several of his counterparts from across the rugby world, Razor isn’t playing mind games with his opponents; he’s playing them with his own team, forcing the issue, aiming to make the All Blacks an inhospitable environment for any shred of hesitancy.

It’s nothing new from the coach; his Crusaders dynasty speaks for itself. Yes, there was immense talent, but there was also a mental edge. In 2023, the Crusaders had more than a handful of All Blacks ruled out of the Super Rugby Pacific final, but the rest of the team lifted and overcame a Chiefs side that lost just one regular-season game that year and hosted the final.

In theory, Razor’s promotion to the All Blacks, a team forever littered with talent, would restore what may be a waning mental edge to rugby’s biggest brand. Results will determine whether that theory is proven true, but we are now seeing his coaching strategies play out in practical terms.

Two Rugby World Cup defeats set the stage for Robertson’s All Blacks reign, both title eliminations coming at the hands of an urgent, uncompromising, physical outfit.

The All Blacks of the 2010s had a sense of urgency, instilled by coaches who had lived and breathed that urgency. Both assistant-turned-head coach Sir Steve Hansen and scrum doctor Mike Cron began their professional careers in the police, where they didn’t have the luxury of knowing what was behind the door. That’s an experience Cron still discusses to this day, and it clearly set a tone within his rugby teams.

Scott Robertson’s enthusiasm for a challenge has replaced Ian Foster’s less enthusiastic ‘the schedule is what it is’ attitude, and the coach brings a more progressive, seeking the fight mentality that appears to have influenced the team’s fixtures.

After all the talk about playing with courage that the Kiwi team has conjured up under the new head coach, it’s time to walk the walk. September 6’s match represents confrontation in every aspect, and reality hits hard.

A loss on September 6 would spark panic in New Zealand to an extent beyond anything Robertson has experienced in his career. But the coach would wear that, knowing that the end goal is an impatient, hungry All Blacks outfit come the 2027 Rugby World Cup, just as the bulk of the New Zealand rugby public could ultimately forgive losing their precious Eden Park record if it were to spark a world-beating attitude for 2027.

This match is being heralded by many as the biggest match of this Rugby World Cup cycle, and the All Blacks either have the mettle or they’ll be forced to find it.