All Blacks legend Jeff Wilson has criticised Scott Robertson’s plans ahead of the Rugby World Cup and wants him to change tack going forward.
During the France series, it was revealed that the New Zealand head coach wants to get four players of Test quality for every position looking ahead to the global tournament in 2027.
Robertson has seen their greatest rivals and the back-to-back world champions, the Springboks, build incredible depth over recent years.
Springboks example
Since their last title, Rassie Erasmus has continually rotated, giving a number of players opportunities as they seek to secure an unprecedented three-peat.
While the All Blacks boss is not necessarily copying Erasmus, he understands the need to have individuals that can step in effortlessly when there are injuries and suspensions.
However, Wilson does not believe that should be his focus with the former wing still concerned about the quality of their main 23 after a mixed first year or so under Robertson.
“This is where I tend to disagree a little bit regards Will Jordan. We can be as effective, if not better, with him playing on the wing and having Damian McKenzie at full-back,” he said on The Breakdown.
“This is where I struggle with the four deep thing. A number of our players, because they’re so versatile – they’re always talking about their ability to adapt by position – I would say Jordie Barrett’s our third best full-back.
“We don’t need four full-backs. Beauden Barrett’s one of our best full-backs, as well as 10. Will Jordan’s clearly our best full-back and best wing, you don’t need four in every single position because people chop and change.
“Richard Kahui played on the wing in the 2011 Rugby World Cup due to his talent and understanding of the game.
“For me, this four deep thing, I don’t buy into that, I want to find the 23 that will win us a Rugby World Cup. Let’s start looking for that.”
All Blacks injuries ahead of Rugby Championship
While Wilson does not like Robertson’s stance, the head coach certainly needs to call on their depth in the Rugby Championship with the All Blacks struck by a number of injury issues.
They have a training squad of 42, six of those in there as cover, with three others – Asafo Aumua, Ofa Tu’ungafasi and Stephen Perofeta – ruled out of the entire competition.
Experienced scrum-half Finlay Christie was one of those to join the group following injuries to Cam Roigard and Noah Hotham, but the likes of Ethan Blackadder and Dalton Papali’i were overlooked.
Wilson believes that their omissions are simply a case of the All Blacks giving younger players a chance at the highest level and stake their claim longer term.
“I think it’s very similar to Finlay Christie. We know about Dalton Papali’i, we know about Ethan Blackadder,” he added.
“I don’t worry about the four deep, I want to find a XV that are going to win us a World Cup in two years’ time.
“There are players that we’ve just talked about who we know about. They’re looking for something different, the only way to find that out is get them in camp and give them an opportunity.”