Former Wallabies winger Drew Mitchell has looked back on the All Blacks’ first season under coach Scott Robertson, insisting that it’s not “panic stations by any means” even though the New Zealanders fell to four defeats across the course of the campaign.
With coach Robertson stepping into the hot seat following the departure of Ian Foster, the All Blacks’ new era got underway with two Tests against England in July. New Zealand emerged victorious in both matches, but only just, and backed that up with a big win over Fiji.
But the All Blacks’ quest for Rugby Championship glory got off to a disappointing start as they were upset by Los Pumas 38-30 in Wellington. The All Blacks also lost two matches away to the world champion Springboks in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The New Zealanders were able to round off the year with wins over Australia, Japan, England, Ireland and Italy, with a loss to Antoin Dupont’s France the only blip from their otherwise memorably positive end-of-year tour against the heavyweights up north.
With four losses across the season and no Rugby Championship title to show for their efforts, the All Blacks aren’t currently the best team in the world. But with the likes of Will Jordan and All Blacks Player of the Year Wallace Sititi standing out, it’s not all doom and gloom.
Under coach Robertson, the All Blacks seem to be improving.
“I don’t know if they’d be happy,” Mitchell said on Kick Offs and Kick Ons. “I don’t think it’s panic stations by any means but the only reason I say they wouldn’t be happy is because of the standards they’ve been upheld to for so long.
“Obviously, Scott Robertson coming in. There’s been a bit of change in terms of the guard of leadership. There’s been plenty of different outliers that Scott Robertson’s had to deal with.
“I think they’re doing well and I think they’ve unearthed a few great players – Wallace Sititi, Will Jordan coming back, not that he was unearthed but him coming back, he’s going to be a key figure.
“Look, they’re always going to be good… it’s just about finding the blend of which players work with which players.
“If there’s anyone out that can get the best out of a player it’s probably going to be Scott Robertson in the All Blacks setup, and I think they’ve got the cattle to be really competitive. I also think they’re on an upward trajectory.”
On the Kick Offs and Kick Ons’ ‘Christmas Bonanza’ Mitchell also weighed in on how the other southern hemisphere teams performed in 2024. Alongside Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper, the trio of former Wallabies had their say on Australia, Argentina and South Africa.
The Wallabies claimed a valiant win over England and a big win over Wales during their Spring Tour, which generated some serious rugby buzz and chatter in Australia. They couldn’t complete the grand slam, but the stage is set for an intriguing British and Irish Lions Series next year.
Ashley-Cooper labelled Argentina the “Win Pumas” – usually nicknamed Los Pumas – and complimented them for some solid performances, which included wins over their three Rugby Championship rivals in a single campaign for the first time.
But then there’s the world no. 1 Springboks, who Mitchell described as “the best positioned in world rugby.” Before the first Test against the All Blacks in Johannesburg, Jesse Kriel insisted that the Boks have gotten better since last year’s Rugby World Cup triumph.
With a Rugby Championship title, drought-breaking Freedom Cup victory, and other positive talking points under coach Rassie Erasmus, the Springboks backed up their status as two-time defending world champions with a series of statement results.
“The depth that Rassie Erasmus has created is phenomenal. He used I think 51 players this year and not because he had to put because they were in a position or privilege where they were so strong that they could afford to make wholesale changes against teams that are still tier one nations,” Mitchell added.
“By doing that [he] was blooding young guys to that arena so that in the instance that some of these guys don’t make it to the ’27 World Cup, they’ve got ready and made replacements.
“I think he’s always innovating, Rassie, he’s got genuine superstars, he’s got players that can play different types of footy. They can play that 10-man rugby if they need to – if the opposition or conditions call on that – but they can also play expansive.
“Of yesteryear, the Springboks were probably criticised for not being able to play that type of footy but you look at the Cheslin Kolbe’s, the [Kurt-Lee] Arendse’s, the [Aphelele] Fassie’s at fullback, [Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu]… they just have the capacity to really open teams up and play the transition type footy as well.”
