Autumn tour – Where are the All Blacks, one year after their defeat in the World Cup final?

Sam Cane stunned, Aaron Smith KO, Sam Whitelock helpless. The moment Wayne Barnes whistled the end of the 2023 World Cup final, New Zealand collapsed after a royal performance and a difficult match against the diabolical Springboks. A little over a year after watching Siya Kolisi's South Africans lift the William Webb-Ellis Trophy, the land of the long white cloud has undergone a small revolution. Several executives have definitively put on the black jersey and, above all, a new man has taken the reins of the All Blacks: Scott Robertson. A few hours before battling against the XV of France, in an enclosure that cursed them one evening in October 2023, New Zealand is moving forward with serenity but without excess confidence.

A Rugby Championship weighed down from the start

A few months after succeeding Ian Foster, Scott Robertson has not had a stellar start to his mandate. The 2024 Rugby Championship was therefore the first competition for the former Perpignan flanker with great expectations in view of the beautiful epic achieved in France. But from the first battle, the men in black went down on one knee, bowing on their soil against Argentina. A first disappointment which was quickly made up for the following weekcertainly, but the Blacks did not raise their level enough to take their revenge on South Africa, winner of the following two matches. These three setbacks which sealed New Zealand's destiny even before the outcome of the competition. The latest victories against Australia at least had the merit of giving the Blacks a balanced record at the end of the Rugby Championship (three victories in six matches).

Cotter: “We’ll know more during the November tour”

Without inspiring the fear of yesteryear, Scott Robertson's men crossed the globe to measure themselves against Ireland, in the heart of autumn, for what was to be the revenge of the legendary quarter-final of the last World Cup, between the two nations. In Dublin, Damian McKenzie's teammates chose pragmatism over big flights, and with success. With penalties from the mischievous number 10, the New Zealanders were brilliantly patient in derailing the Greens' system and breaking through the Irish defense at the end of the match.

A remarkable performance for a group which undoubtedly had its first founding match. Before the November tour, Vern Cotter expected a lot from this infernal triptych (Ireland, France, England). The coach of the Auckland Blues, champions of the last Super Rugby, was already praising patience. “They are finding their place and their system with a new staff. Scott Robertson and his assistants have perhaps not yet found the right fuel. But we will know more during the November tour with matches against to England, Ireland and France They will have spent more time together and we will see what progress they will have made. Progress validated against a team with a meticulous strategy and which will have to be confirmed against the more unpredictable Blues… But these All Blacks are still scary.