Analysis - A familiar face, a reset midfield and an enforced change in the front row are the big moves in the All Blacks team to play the Pumas this weekend at Eden Park. But really, there's as much to be said about the players Scott Robertson hasn't replaced as the ones he had.
Also, there's the questions over the direction the team is heading and at what pace. Robertson said he was wary of overcoaching.
"You ask that question of yourself all day," he said.
"The ability to coach simply is probably the first thing in our minds, we learned a lot last week so it's about taking what we learned and putting it into action. If you look at all our test matches, we've created enough, but we've given them back opportunities. So it's around our discipline, doing our jobs and executing."
Former captain Sam Cane's return is the big talking point, the 95-test veteran is on the bench and will cover openside and number eight, although not altogether unexpected, it does still plug a direct line back to Ian Foster's turbulent regime. Robertson said that it was down to "experience, we think it's going to be important at the back end of the game".
(L-R) Aaron Smith, Jordie Barrett, Scott Barrett, Beauden Barrett and Sam Cane of New Zealand before kick off of the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against South Africa. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
That is a fair summation, given that a string of poorly executed moments essentially cost the All Blacks the game on Saturday night. But it is a tad ironic that the last time they coolly iced a tight test match result - against Ireland in last year's World Cup quarter-final - Cane had been subbed off.
The big work ons after the 38-30 loss at Sky Stadium where the efforts of a beaten forward pack and the fact that the All Blacks spent far too long playing in their own half. A telling stat was while they had two thirds of possession in the last 10 minutes of the test, the Pumas held the entire territorial advantage and simply waited for the All Blacks to make mistakes.
"I think every All Black forward pack, after a result like that, wants a chance at redemption. They've owned, we all have," Robertson said.
"Getting out of our back fence is really important and we've put time into it this week. Everyone's got a role to play when you're getting out of your own end."
There's been a switch out on both wings, with Caleb Clarke and Will Jordan coming in. Again, no massive surprise although Sevu Reece will be ruing his last two starts after being man of the match in the first test of the season.
"He's a power wing, Caleb, he can dent a line and he's good in the air. So we think those two will compliment each other this week," said Robertson, who also has brought Rieko Ioane back into the starting lineup at centre despite Anton Lienert-Brown's performance being one of the few positives from the backs at Sky Stadium.
Scott Barrett and Pablo Matera. Blues v Crusaders. Super Rugby Pacific Final. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
There will be some attention on TJ Perenara after the Pumas successfully managed to harass the All Black halfback into a couple of noticeable errors in Wellington. Similarly, the unchanged starting loose forwards will need to front up in the face of a fired up Pumas trio, led by Pablo Matera. The Pumas captain certainly holds no fear of Eden Park, having won a Super Rugby Pacific title with the Crusaders the last time he played there.
Facing intense media scrutiny after a loss isn't something Robertson has had to do very often and it showed today, with the coach's body language often suggesting he'd rather bolt for the nearest exit than answer another question. That's understandable, given his peerless record at the Crusaders, but if the All Blacks don't start improving, he may well find himself getting used to those circumstances whether he likes it or not.
All Blacks v Pumas
Kick-off: 7.05pm, Saturday 17 August (NZT)
Eden Park, Auckland
Live blog coverage on RNZ Sport
All Blacks: 1. Tamaiti Williams 2. Codie Taylor 3. Tyrel Lomax 4. Tupou Vaa'i 5. Sam Darry 6. Ethan Blackadder 7. Dalton Papali'i 8. Ardie Savea (c) 9. TJ Perenara 10. Damian McKenzie 11. Caleb Clarke 12. Jordie Barrett 13. Rieko Ioane 14. Will Jordan 15. Beauden Barrett
Bench: 16. Asafo Aumua 17. Ofa Tu'ungafasi 18. Fletcher Newell 19. Josh Lord 20. Sam Cane 21. Cortez Ratima 22. Anton Lienert-Brown 23. Mark Tele'a
Pumas: TBC
