{"id":78261,"date":"2025-08-19T17:30:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T17:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/78261\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T17:30:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T17:30:12","slug":"all-blacks-coach-scott-robertson-expects-beaten-south-africa-to-revert-to-dna-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/78261\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks coach Scott Robertson expects beaten South Africa to revert to \u2018DNA\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Zealand<\/a> coach Scott Robertson says his side will not alter their approach to playing South Africa<\/a> in light of the Springboks\u2019 surprise capitulation to Australia<\/a> at Ellis Park in the opening round of the Rugby Championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s 38-22 loss at their Johannesburg stronghold stunned the rugby world while putting their Rugby Championship defence on shaky ground before a potentially decisive, two-Test tour of New Zealand next month.<\/p>\n

The Springboks have tried to move to a more expansive, ball-in-hand game style away from their usual strengths of physical dominance and tactical kicking, but Robertson suggested it may not last.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. We know how they\u2019re going to play \u2013 they\u2019ll play to their strengths. It\u2019s just their DNA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about how you stop them, but also how you play your own game.\u201d<\/p>\n

After conceding a 22-0 lead, Australia ran in six unanswered tries to beat the hosts at Ellis Park for the first time in over 60 years and trigger renewed optimism under coach Joe Schmidt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Robertson, however, declined to conjure even faint praise for the Wallabies, saying he was more focused on the All Blacks\u2019 second Test against Argentina<\/a> in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a game of small moments \u2013 a bounce of the ball, a pass. South Africa played beautifully for a long period, and then it just turned, didn\u2019t it?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows how discipline, accuracy and limiting errors can change things quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll turn the page when we get past this week and we\u2019ll start talking about those teams,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The All Blacks saw off an Argentina fightback to win 41-24 in Cordoba last Saturday despite a lack of cohesion in the backline at times.<\/p>\n

Rieko Ioane\u2019s move to the wing and Billy Proctor\u2019s promotion to starting number 13 remain under the microscope, with neither dominating their positions.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew Zealand head coach Scott Robertson. Photograph: Luis Robayo\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Robertson defended both players, saying Ioane was getting better every week and calling for patience Proctor, who has played only five Tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a long-term project, and we\u2019re sticking with him,\u201d he said of Proctor.<\/p>\n

Lock Patrick Tuipulotu may not play another Test in the Rugby Championship after suffering a facial fracture against Argentina while centre Anton Lienert-Brown is out of the second match after failing concussion protocols.<\/p>\n

Tuipulotu was taken to hospital after the win last Saturday and will need surgery on his return to New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old is expected to need six weeks to recover after surgery, leaving him scrambling to be fit for the last Rugby Championship Test against Australia in Perth on October 4th.<\/p>\n

Lienert-Brown will join him on the plane home after failing a head injury assessment, New Zealand Rugby said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The veteran centre earned a yellow card after a late clash of heads with Santiago Chocobares in Cordoba.<\/p>\n

Robertson\u2019s squad has cover in both positions, with Josh Lord a potential replacement at lock and former Fiji under-20 player Timoci Tavatavanawai a midfield option.<\/p>\n

Robertson said loose forward Wallace Sititi and prop Tamaiti Williams should be available for Saturday\u2019s second Test in Buenos Aires after missing the Cordoba opener and the entire France series due to leg injuries.<\/p>\n

With a few uncapped players in the squad including halfback Kyle Preston and flanker Simon Parker, Robertson suggested more changes may be on the table to build depth.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome guys need football and they need to play together to get high cohesion,\u201d said Robertson.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to give guys opportunities to build depth for now and this rugby cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand coach Scott Robertson says his side will not alter their approach to playing South Africa in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[10089,39892,15457,5903,15394,101,39891,56,54,55,15456],"class_list":["post-78261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-all-blacks","tag-argentina-rugby","tag-joe-schmidt","tag-rugby","tag-rugby-championship","tag-sports","tag-springboks","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wallabies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78261","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=78261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}