Balance is everything in a back row and seeing Ireland, England, and France use their respective loose trios so cleverly and effectively generates the question about how Robertson is planning to set up his combination.
It’s a particularly poignant question, not only because the All Blacks open their campaign against England and then meet them again and Ireland and France in successive weeks in November, but because all three of last year’s preferred starters - Shannon Frizell, Sam Cane and Ardie Savea - are playing in Japan, with the former ineligible because he’s not coming back to New Zealand, as the other two are in May.
There’s also a question mark over Cane’s fitness as initial reports suggested he was looking at a 10-week layoff after incurring a back injury, but there have been no updates to clarify his prognosis.
The Frizell-Cane-Savea combination was starting to gel and look to have the right mix of skills by the end of last year’s World Cup.
But while it was effective, it never satisfactorily answered the question of whether No 8 is the right position for Savea.
He can play there because he’s a brilliant athlete and special talent - the best player in the world - who has the power, speed, vision, tenacity, and softer skills to play anywhere in the back row.
It’s outcome bias, however, to watch him play and then say No 8 is the right position for him because there is no comparative value - and it has to be remembered that he earned a place on the 2013 All Blacks tour as an apprentice openside.
And it was as a No 7 that he began his test career and it was as a No 7, while Cane was recovering from a broken neck in 2018, that Savea proved himself as a world-class operator.
He shifted position in 2019 because he was too good to leave out of the team and the All Blacks didn’t have an established No 6, and then he found himself at No 8 in 2020 because coach Ian Foster had committed to Cane as his captain.
But while Savea has seamlessly fitted in wherever he’s been asked, it’s intriguing to ponder what impact he could have at No 7, which is probably his natural home.
To enable that, Robertson would have to find an all-court No 8 with a bit of size and presence in the Doris-Earl-Alldritt mould and ideally a heavyweight No 6 to serve as a like-for-like replacement for Frizell.
It would be a significant change to the profile of the loose trio as it would signal that the All Blacks have moved away from selecting two opensides as they had been under Foster and adopting something more akin to the Six Nations formula.
But can such a No 8 be found.
Is there a player in Super Rugby Pacific who fits the brief to enable Savea to be switched to the openside?
All the current contenders have big question marks hanging over them.
Hoskins Sotutu is on track, having obviously upped his workrate and lowered his body position in contact.
He’s playing better than he ever has and with the sort of impact that makes it possible to see him forming a combination with Savea later in the year.
But he’s started campaigns with a real bang before and faded.
Cullen Grace is struggling to make an impact as part of a struggling Crusaders team, and Luke Jacobson has shown plenty of the attributes to be that dynamic force the All Blacks need at No 8, but not enough and not for long enough.
Maybe Robertson will stick with Savea at No 8, Cane at openside and look instead for a straight replacement for Frizell - who might be Samipeni Finau.
Or he might even be taken with playing three opensides in Dalton Papalii, Cane and Savea.
But the Six Nations formula looks good.
It has versatility and suits all conditions and all opponents and so searching for the right type of No 8 is a high priority.
Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand’s most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and has written several books about sport.
