England could be one of the teams Robertson has an eye on, with the team due to visit New Zealand in July 2024. England’s last tour to New Zealand was back in 2014 when the side, then coached by Stuart Lancaster, lost 3-0 to the All Blacks.
Meanwhile, an Anzac invitation team has been given the green light to face the British & Irish Lions when they tour Australia in 2025.
The Lions will face the Wallabies in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney as part of a nine-game tour that will also see the tourists face a combined Australia-New Zealand outfit in Adelaide the week before the first test.
However, with the All Blacks set to face France in a three-test series during the same international window, it is expected the All Blacks playing in Japan or elsewhere, and not eligible for selection, will be targeted to join the invitation team.
In the England v Argentina match, George Ford kicked everything, including three first-half drop goals, to give 14-man England a 27-10 win.
England, written off ahead of the tournament and down a man from the opening minutes after flanker Tom Curry’s head clash with Juan Cruz Mallia resulted in a red card, took nearly every chance that came their way from a sloppy Argentina to start Pool D with a big win that few saw coming.
Ford kicked his drop goals in the space of eight minutes near the end of the half, taking England from 3-3 to 12-3 in the blink of an eye. The first five-eighth, who is standing in for suspended captain Owen Farrell, also landed six penalties for a flawless night with his right boot.
Luke Kirkness is an online sports editor for the NZ Herald. He previously covered consumer affairs for the Herald and was an assistant news director in the Bay of Plenty. He won Student Journalist of the Year in 2019.
