All Blacks coach Scott Robertson acknowledged he would have to take his side’s record loss to South Africa “on the chin” as the post mortem into New Zealand’s 43-10 Rugby Championship thrashing in Wellington on Saturday began in earnest.
The hammering, which came as a result of a second half capitulation that saw Robertson’s side concede an unanswered 36 points, was the All Blacks’ worst ever reversal and second loss in three matches, following last month’s defeat against Argentina.
Having eased some of the pressure on himself and his team with victory over the South Africans in Auckland last week, Robertson is again having his reign scrutinised as a result of the mauling.
“We’ll take it on the chin,” said Robertson. “They were clearly better in that second half.
“You get extremely disappointed because you put so much effort and work into the team, the culture, and you set yourselves up to dig in and show grit and then that happens.
“We couldn’t buy anything, couldn’t get anything happening, they just went on a tear. Congratulations to them.
“Of course something like that is going to hurt you.”
New Zealand’s worst previous defeat, also against the Springboks, was a 35-7 loss at Twickenham in the lead-up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Saturday’s performance in Wellington prompted concern and criticism in the New Zealand media.
The All Blacks “were made to look like some ill-conceived analogue contraption trying to compete with the latest iPhone”, wrote Gregor Paul in the New Zealand Herald.
“The self-styled innovation leaders of the world game were blown off the park, and chunks were taken out of the legacy. Losing doesn’t do wholesale damage to the brand, but record defeats do.”
The result leaves New Zealand in third place in the Rugby Championship standings, one point behind leaders Australia, who the All Blacks face in a pair of trans-Tasman Bledisloe Cup encounters on September 27 and October 4 to close out the competition.
“As a group you have to stick together,” captain Scott Barrett said. “You have to look at your own game. And then it’s what’s going to give us the biggest shift. Right now it’s probably set piece.
“There will be some discomfort, clearly, but I’m sure this team will use that discomfort to bounce forward for the Bledisloe and finish this Rugby Championship strong.”
