All Blacks coach Scott Robertson wasn’t giving too much away in terms of how many starters in the 64-19 win over Japan will return next Sunday to face England at Twickenham.
Japan gave the All Blacks an early scare with two tries in the opening 20 minutes to trail 14-12 before the All Blacks scored five straight tries into the break. They were left to tackle a lot more in the second half before Ruben Love scored two late tries on debut. Robertson was half-full in his post-match interview with Sky.
“It was convincing off some great defensive sets and great class and touches and skills. We did everything in that first half and then defended for a lot of it in that second half. A couple of debutants ... it had everything. We scored a few tries at the end there,” Robertson told Sky Sport after the test win in Yokohama.
“We gave the ball back too easily. But they learned how to defend didn’t they? That’s one good thing about it. We just weren’t urgent enough. They got a couple of good set piece tries that were really innovative.... well done to Japan,” he added.
The Japan test was always going to be about testing a few combinations and giving some new players a chance to play test rugby and others returning from injury some time on the field. They have much bigger challenges ahead against England, Ireland and France in consecutive weeks. A senior group of players arrived in England early to prepare leaving Robertson a bigger mix of youth with a handful of experienced veterans.
