All Blacks squad: Public has to respect Scott Robertson’s decision not to select Hoskins Sotutu - Editorial

Scott Robertson speaks as his first All Blacks squad is named. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

EDITORIAL

New Zealand’s expectations of the All Blacks are somehow both wildly unrealistic and completely reasonable – all at the same time. Simply put: they must win everything.

Scott Robertson will know better than anyone the consequences should he fail to deliver as All Blacks coach. He’s a smart thinker on the game, who achieved incredible things at Super Rugby level with the Crusaders.

The depth of thought Robertson and his team of assistants will have put into assembling his first squad would be far beyond the understanding of all but the most intelligent rugby follower and All Blacks fan. These are smart people, with a long vision of what is needed to bring the victories we demand.

We have to trust them to know what’s best.

And yet...

The perplexing decision to leave Hoskins Sotutu out of the squad stands out as a possible sore point should early results not go Robertson’s way.

Sotutu was the top performer in the Blues team that won the Super Rugby Pacific title playing effective, barebones footy.

The big No 8 has had a go at the top flight before. He played 14 tests in 2020, before being found wanting by coaching staff, including current forwards coach Jason Ryan. When players are tested then dropped from the squad, they are customarily given a list of “work-ons” – things they need to improve to make it back into the black jersey.

It’s worth wondering what could possibly have been on Sotutu’s work-on list that he didn’t deliver over the past five months. Drop kicks?

Hoskins Sotutu's omission remains the big talking point in Scott Robertson's first All Blacks squad. Photo / Photosport

Ryan – along with his boss Robertson – are to be applauded for the candour in revealing why Chiefs bolter Wallace Sititi was preferred ahead of Sotutu.

The forwards coach cited Sititi’s work off the ball and his versatility across all three loose forward positions as giving him the edge.

Robertson said choosing between Sotutu and Sititi was “the toughest call”.

He has backed the players he knows: Of the 32 players named, seven are Crusaders. Would any other Super Rugby side that fell as flat as the Crusaders did this season ever expect their players to make up 22 per cent of the personnel in an All Blacks squad?

It’s early in his tenure, but the All Blacks coach might already be brushing near claims of parochialism that have often dogged his predecessors.

Historical divisions between Auckland, Canterbury and the rest of the country still linger just below the surface of discussion about the national game. Excellent coaches like Alex Wylie, Laurie Mains and John Hart all faced accusations of stacking sides with players from their own provinces.

Ryan’s frank and open comments on Sititi and Sotutu should help dispel such concerns.

The Kiwi rugby public might not be as well informed on the nuance of the game as Robertson and his panel, but they’re smart enough to understand the big issues and to be able to comprehend when things are clearly explained.

The head coach intends for his time in charge of the All Blacks to be marked by more openness. This is a good thing: The big rugby brains of Robertson and his assistants can improve the public discourse on the national sport and help to quell suggestions of parochialism before they can rise.