What Scott Robertson has done with Sam Whitelock that no other coach could
Sam Whitelock continues to provide the greatest advertisement for the coaching of Scott Robertson.
How Robertson is not the All Blacks’ head coach remains a mystery. The man’s record is phenomenal, but only tells a fraction of the story.
Not only has Robertson won provincial titles as a technical adviser, assistant coach and head coach, there’s been world under-20 and Super Rugby championships too.
More than that, though, Robertson makes average or unheralded players better.
How would the careers of George Bridge, Sevu Reece, Michael Alaalatoa, Sione Havili Talitui, Scott Barrett, George Bower, Andrew Makalio, Whetukamokamo Douglas, Braydon Ennor, Will Jordan and Leicester Fainga’anuku have gone without Robertson? There’s some pretty handy players in that lot, but how much would they have done at another franchise?
There’s always stars. Always guys like Richie Mo’unga and Jack Goodhue that people can see will amount to something. Maybe they’d have kicked on elsewhere too.
Sam Whitelock had kicked on. He’d won provincial titles and a Rugby World Cup before he began to work with Robertson on a consistent basis.
What Whitelock hadn’t done was win at Super Rugby level.
No Crusaders team did for almost 10 years. They had the talent to do it, but perhaps not the desire.
There were bigger prizes out there for some of the Crusaders’ better players and, try as coach Todd Blackadder might, that never changed.
Now there are reasons why Scott Robertson won three Super Rugby titles in as many seasons, after succeeding Blackadder, then followed that with a maiden Super Rugby Aotearoa crown.
Talent is one and culture would be another. The team’s actual method of play has been important too.
But what Robertson has done that is arguably the most critical thing of all, is he’s enthused Whitelock.
Week-in, week-out, Whitelock demands total effort from himself and those around him. And when the old man of the team is doing that, then what choice do all the others have?
It was a pleasure to watch the Crusaders beat the Blues 43-27 at Eden Park on Sunday. To see the methodical way the Crusaders dismantled the Blues’ set pieces and then punished their mistakes.
Mo’unga has won plenty of plaudits for his performance and rightly so. But, let’s be honest, Mo’unga’s always going to look a class apart when the opposition are relying on blokes like Jonathan Ruru, Otere Black, Harry Plummer and Stephen Perofeta to be accurate and composed.
With the best will in the world, none of those blokes has any real runs on the board and certainly didn’t trouble the scorers on Sunday.
But as good as Mo’unga was, Whitelock was better. It was he who led the Crusaders in all the effort areas and who was instrumental in the Blues’ lineout breaking down.
To do that at 32, with so many test and Super Rugby caps under his belt - and having enjoyed so much success - speaks volumes for Whitelock’s will to win.
It’s an endorsement of Robertson and his methods, too, and yet more proof that he ought to be working at test level by now.
People will say he’s had some good players to work with and that’s fair. But the counter argument is how many coaches can lose players of the calibre of Kieran Read, Matt Todd, Jordan Taufua, Ryan Crotty, Owen Franks, Wyatt Crockett, Tim Perry, Seta Tamanivalu, Pete Samu and Israel Dagg and just keep on winning?
Sunday’s victory at Eden Park spoke volumes for the Crusaders and it was yet another example of Mo’unga’s quality at this level.
Ultimately, though, it was a round-robin game and the Crusaders judge themselves by much higher standards than that.
Standards established and maintained by that all-conquering pair of Whitelock and Robertson.
Latest Comments
Excellent points Mz. Because of other commitments I have just watched the game.
Interesting watching it after reading all the news reports especially in the English media. I was expecting to see a game that the ABs were very lucky to win. What I saw was a game that England showed their tactical incompetence and their inability to construct any try scoring opportunities.
They can go on deluding themselves that they were unlucky to lose ( as Borthwick said post match ) but until they stop relying on rush defence and goal kicking to win I feel they're doomed to be ranked 4 or 5 in the world.
Can't wait until the weekend to see how the Wallabies go against them
Though I dare say Walter will be hoping for an England win.
Go to commentsIF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.
As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.
Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).
This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.
If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.
Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.
After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.
Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.
Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)
Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.
Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.
Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.
Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:
Seeding Band 1
IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG
Seeding Band 2
SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO
Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6
Strongest pool opponent: FIJI
1/8 final opponent GEORGIA
Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond
Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6
Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA
1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND
Prognosis: You know the prognosis
I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?
Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.
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