{"id":263830,"date":"2025-11-15T06:34:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T06:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/263830\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T06:34:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T06:34:11","slug":"scott-robertson-surprised-by-englands-pom-squad-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/263830\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Robertson surprised by England’s Pom Squad ‘innovation’"},"content":{"rendered":"

All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson was rather taken aback after learning that England\u2019s bench had been dubbed the \u2018Pom Squad\u2019.<\/p>\n

After the Springboks coined the \u2018Bomb Squad\u2019 \u2013 which saw them stack their bench with forwards \u2013 during their run to the 2019 Rugby World Cup title, other teams have looked to copy that tactic.<\/p>\n

Steve Borthwick\u2019s<\/a> side are one of them with the Red Rose<\/a> regularly adopting a 6-2 split over the past year or so.<\/p>\n

However, they have taken it to another level over the course of this November series as against the Wallabies they stacked their bench with British and Irish Lions stars.<\/p>\n

England\u2019s Lions-heavy bench<\/p>\n

Borthwick has followed suit against the All Blacks<\/a> with 2025 Lions tourists Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock and Marcus Smith all waiting to come on in this Saturday match at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.<\/p>\n

After being asked about the \u2018Pom Squad\u2019, Robertson<\/a> did a double take before joking: \u201cThat\u2019s catchy, have they gone for that? Wow, that\u2019s innovation isn\u2019t it!<\/p>\n

Turning to a reporter, he then quipped: \u201cDid you come up with it mate?\u201d before adding on a more serious note, \u201cThe Pom Squad, as you know the finishing of Test matches is critical and whoever you bring on need to make an impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just know how quickly things can swing around. They\u2019re all good, they\u2019re tough and quality players that can make a difference, especially at the back end of the game. They will make an impact no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Inevitable\u2019 Henry Pollock given All Blacks incentive by predecessor who warns England star of \u2018true great\u2019 pitfalls<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite being surprised by the England bench\u2019s nickname, Robertson admitted that it formed the basis of his team selection with Wallace Sititi amongst the New Zealand replacements to counteract the hosts\u2019 impact.<\/p>\n

Simon Parker therefore starts at blindside flanker after missing their 25-17 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield last weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe [Parker] is a big body, he\u2019s physical and Wallace will come on. He [Sititi] has obviously got a great game, especially when it opens up a little bit or we still have to make our tackles or turn the ball over. Whatever style of game it is, he can add to it,\u201d the coach explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just felt we wanted to have that combination [against Scotland] and give the guys a chance after moving Wallace to six, and have the combination with him and Peter [Lakai].<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what Ardie [Savea] can do, he\u2019s pretty special, but it was just the combination of those two. He [Parker] comes in fresh and keen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loss of Caleb Clarke and All Blacks aerial issues<\/p>\n

Sititi will be joined among the replacements by Anton Lienert-Brown, who is a new addition to the 23 following Caleb Clarke\u2019s injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can cover all positions in the backline \u2013 12, 13 and can cover wing as well \u2013 he\u2019s experienced and has trained really well,\u201d Robertson said.<\/p>\n

Clarke\u2019s absence could increase the All Blacks\u2019 aerial struggles against an England side who are stacked with options, but Robertson insists that it is not the hosts\u2019 only threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got a great aerial game. [Alex] Mitchell\u2019s a quality kicker and they put it on the spot, so it\u2019s a big part of the game for them, and they also play a bit too,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can take the ball in hand and if George [Ford] gets it out of his hands quickly the game\u2019s on, so that\u2019s exciting isn\u2019t it when you play a team like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: All Blacks team: Five takeaways as Scott Robertson\u2019s \u2018subtle tweak\u2019 suggests big mindset change while \u2018loudest message\u2019 sent to Rieko Ioane<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson was rather taken aback after learning that England\u2019s bench had been dubbed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[309,348,3482,620,50,5903,17846,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-263830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-england","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-scott-robertson","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}