The Super Rugby Pacific competition is over for 2025, and All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson is now preparing his side to play France on the 5th of July in Dunedin.
Four former All Blacks have discussed how the All Blacks might set up ahead of the first Test match of 2025, which is just under a couple of weeks away.
One of the starting positions up for grabs is the No. 10 playmaker role, where Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie will likely battle it out for the starting role, with the other taking up a position on the bench.
Former All Black and Chiefs first-five Aaron Cruden believes the No.10 jersey really impacts the style of rugby Scott Robertson wants to play this year.
“There’s a term out there now, about a game driver, your nines and ten and for me, it’s crucial. Alongside that, I think the rest of the team need to be the navigators, in a way, the ability to contribute, be the eyes and the ears as well,” Cruden told The Breakdown on Sky Sport.
“We obviously know based on last year we had Damian and Beauden, and they’re going to be there again, there’s no doubt about that but who’s going to be the starter?
“They’re not the same player, we all know Damian and his strengths lie in his ability to create something out of nothing, the flamboyancy and the things that Damian can do on the rugby field, not many people can.”
Cruden favours McKenzie for the No.10 jersey but ultimately will come down to what tactics and style Robertson goes with in 2025.
“It’s going to be based on the style of play that All Blacks coaches want. I feel like in 2024 the All Blacks coaches gave Damian a little bit more time than he’s had in the past, and for me, I think he’s only going to be better for that.
“Obviously I’d like to see him there again.”
100-Test former All Black Mils Muliaina is torn between the two but wants Robertson to settle on one to give the team the best chance of gelling as the season goes on.
“Well, I think one thing’s clear is they have to settle on someone, last year they did give Damian a good crack, but I think they needed to progress more,” Muliaina said on The Breakdown.
“Results didn’t help, then the pressure came on to actually win some Test matches for Razor and then he sort of reverted back to Barrett.
“Barrett was off a sabbatical as well so it took him a bit of time to get back into the groove of things, but I think you’ve got to settle on the fact that those two are the ten’s.
“Don’t move them around like they’re fullbacks, I think in the past, we’ve done that because we haven’t had a backup fullback. We do now, we’ve got Ruben Love there, so I think you establish the fact that those two are only going to play 10 and nothing else.
Former Crusaders and All Blacks halfback Justin Marshall urges Robertson to be brave in setting up the side this year, as the game plan last year according to him, wasn’t up to scratch.
“The game plan that we had last year wasn’t up to speed, it was good enough, and it won us some good Test matches, but when the litmus test was there, it let us down, Ireland was a very good victory, but two losses to South Africa, we were lucky to get a win against England,” Marshall said.
“We’ve been worked out, so we need to start now, we need to start thinking about where are our strengths. Where have we traditionally opened up teams and been the number one team in the world?
“That’s been playing with width and playing inside the five, with loosies, with backs, getting the ball into that space, you can squeeze and blitz us all you want, but we’re going to go there and we’re going to hammer you, and we’re going to use the full width of the field.”
