Scott Robertson on the All Blacks’ ‘opportunity’ against England & Ireland

Head coach Scott Robertson believes the All Blacks have an "opportunity" waiting for them up north when they visit Japan and Europe for their five-Test end-of-season tour. The New Zealanders will face some familiar foes on their travels, including England and Ireland.

‘Razor’ Robertson’s time in charge of the All Blacks started with back-to-back wins over a spirited England outfit in July. Steve Borthwick’s men were widely considered the underdogs ahead of the two Tests in New Zealand but they put up an almighty fight.

The All Blacks escaped with a  16-15 win at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium, and they needed a Beauden Barrett masterclass off the pine to help get them home one week later at Eden Park in Auckland. New Zealand emerged victorious 24-17 after another thrilling Test.

But, in just over 30 days’ time, the English will get their chance at revenge when they host the New Zealanders at Allianz Stadium – formerly known as Twickenham. Then, one week later, the All Blacks will take on Ireland in a rematch of last year’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final.

With thousands of fans in green cheering them on, Ireland truly believed they had the team to win the World Cup but the All Blacks got in the way. But, the Irish are ranked number one in the world now, and they’ll be desperate to showcase why that is on November 8^th in Dublin.

“Every Test has got its own little storyline, doesn’t it? That’s the beauty of it all,” Robertson told reporters in Wellington on Sunday morning.

“Those first two matches (against England) feel like five months ago but those are small moments.

“One thing we have learned, nearly every Test match has had little moments or momentums that you either take or you haven’t.

“We play them first, we’re the first of their series and the first of the Irish series as well.

“We’re just mindful of, we’re nine matches in now. We’ve been together a little bit and we’re connected and understand how things work.

“We see it as an opportunity as well.”

The All Blacks’ Rugby Championship campaign didn’t go to plan as they fell to three defeats from their six Tests. Argentina claimed a famous in Wellington, and South Africa also claimed back-to-back wins in front of their fans in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

While the All Blacks were able to end their TRC campaign on a high with two wins over arch-rivals the Wallabies, they still have something to prove up north. They start their tour against Japan before facing England, Ireland, France and finally, Italy.

New Zealand’s most recent result was a 33-13 win over Australia at Sky Stadium. The Wallabies have only managed to win one Test from their last six, and they’ll also be eager to turn that around when they face the home nations in a blockbuster month of Test rugby.

England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland will all look to pile more pressure on Australia ahead of next year’s British & Irish Lions series Down Under. The Lions is made up of the four teams that the Wallabies face, so this is idyllic preparation for all involved.

“Going north is for us still about building depth because that was this year’s big project was about building depth,” Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said on Saturday.

“We’ve had 16 debutants and a new leader and Harry’s done very, very well.

“Those four Test matches, they make up the Lions for next year so we get a good look at their personnel. Some of them I still know from having coached them. I know them well and I know how good they are.

“It’s bit like when we come up against the All Blacks, you know it’s going to be a really tough tour, but if we can keep building through that tour, then I think we put ourselves in a position of potentially being competitive next July.”