In our penultimate preview ahead of the 2025 Rugby Championship, we examine the prospects of last year’s runners-up, New Zealand.
Scott Robertson leads the competition’s most successful team for the second time in the tournament, looking to clinch a 21st title and first under the former back-rower.
After a year of teething issues, Robertson will be eager to get his All Blacks charges firing with a somewhat favourable fixture list in the Rugby Championship.
Last year
Robertson’s tenure got off to a strong start in 2024, defeating England in back-to-back matches in New Zealand before hammering Fiji 47-5 in San Diego.
However, the fast start to the new era of All Blacks rugby hit a speed bump upon their return home as a spirited Los Pumas outfit claimed a stunning 38-30 victory in Wellington, their first-ever win on New Zealand soil. A response was needed, and the All Blacks duly delivered in a 42-10 thrashing of Argentina the following week.
A trip to South Africa followed, and so did more defeats as the All Blacks narrowly lost to the Springboks at Ellis Park (31-27) and in Cape Town (18-12). The latter result was a hammer blow to New Zealand’s hopes of defending their Rugby Championship title, and while they would let that slip and lose the Freedom Cup, the Bledisloe Cup was safely secured with a narrow 31-28 win over the Wallabies in Sydney, which they backed up, downing Joe Schmidt’s charges 33-13 in Wellington.
Focus then turned to the end-of-year internationals, which was kick-started on a high, battering Japan 64-19 before clinching a hat-trick of wins over England – this time at Twickenham – before beating Ireland 23-13. The year would end on a lull for the All Blacks, who fell to a one-point defeat at the hands of France before limping to a 29-11 victory over Italy.
This year
Year two of the Scott Robertson project was set to kick off on an epic note with Six Nations champions France heading to New Zealand. However, Les Bleus opted to rest most of their top talents for the three-Test series, putting a dampener on the event before it even began.
Still, this provided the head coach with the opportunity to do some depth testing of his own against a still threatening French team, and he did not let that pass by, issuing six Test debuts and handing opportunities to some who fell out of favour last year.
Razor’s men shook off the rust with a narrow 31-27 win in Dunedin, and a week later claimed a 43-17 victory in Wellington. Ringing the changes for the third and final Test match against France did not alter the outcome as the All Blacks marched to a 29-19 triumph to sweep the series.
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Players to watch
While Robertson is certainly blooding in new talents into the All Blacks jersey, elder statesman Ardie Savea is arguably in the form of his career, which is a massive statement in itself considering his box-office performances throughout his time in the black jersey. Savea is on track to hit 100 Test matches during the Rugby Championship and could even do so in the Eden Park clash against the Springboks. A season with Moana Pasifika has only bolstered the loose forward’s form, as has his shift to the side of the scrum.
Savea’s move back to openside flanker has opened up opportunities in the number eight jumper, and Robertson looks set to unleash a fresh face in the imposing figure of Simon Parker. The Chiefs back-rower enjoyed a standout Super Rugby campaign and has all the attributes to shine in the All Blacks jersey. His addition to the squad is accompanied by the return to fitness of Wallace Sititi, the 2024 World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year. Sititi missed a large chunk of the Super Rugby campaign through injury but was in destructive form before his most recent setback. Scheduled to return in the second Test against Argentina, don’t be surprised to see the young tyro pick up from where he left off.
Onto the backs and injuries to Cam Roigard and Noah Hotham means that Robertson has called up uncapped number nine Kyle Preston. The Crusaders star scored a hat-trick on his Super Rugby debut earlier this year and continued to lay down a marker en route to winning the competition. The 25-year-old late bloomer has the increasingly important trait of being able to kick off both feet and the attacking game to ignite the All Blacks with a click of the finger.
Elsewhere, this could be the campaign when Ruben Love really breaks into the squad and cements a regular role in the team. The exciting back has drawn comparisons to Beauden Barrett with his ability to play full-back and fly-half, and is gifted with blistering pace. Meanwhile, Billy Proctor is making waves in the midfield, as too has newly capped powerhouse Timoci Tavatavanawai, which has forced Rieko Ioane back to the wing. Barrett is also one try away from equalling Bryan Habana’s all-time try scoring record in the Rugby Championship, while his brother Jordie was in red-hot form for Leinster and is replicating that in the black jersey.
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Prospects
The All Blacks have dominated this competition and its previous iterations, with the Springboks and Wallabies collectively denying New Zealand on just nine occasions out of 29!
As mentioned in prior previews, this promises to be one of the most hotly-contested Championships in recent memory, with Australia improving since Joe Schmidt’s arrival, while Argentina managed wins over each of the participating nations last year. The Springboks currently hold a four-game winning streak over New Zealand and head into the tournament as favourites.
Robertson’s men do have a relatively favourable schedule as they host the Boks in New Zealand, which comes after a trip to Argentina. However, the question remains whether the head coach has enough time to influence the change needed to get his maiden title or not. The All Blacks are expected to win every Test match they play and subsequently every Rugby Championship, a ridiculous bar set by previous legendary outfits. However, the international climate and strength of teams have drastically changed since the dominant All Black team of the 2010s, and Robertson is still influencing the change, meaning there are bound to be more speed bumps along the way, and they will settle for second place.
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Fixtures
Saturday, August 16: v Argentina (Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba)
Saturday, August 23: v Argentina (José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires)
Saturday, September 6: v South Africa (Eden Park, Auckland)
Saturday, September 13: v South Africa (Sky Stadium, Wellington)
Saturday, September 27: v Australia (Eden Park, Auckland)
Saturday, October 4: v Australia (Perth Stadium, Perth)