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Lack of "killer instinct" continues to haunt All Blacks in narrow Bledisloe Cup escape
SENZ • September 23rd, 2024 10:47 am
The All Blacks may have retained the Bledisloe Cup with their victory over the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday, but the nature of their performance has left a somewhat sour taste with many.
With a 28-14 lead at halftime, Scott Robertson's troops looked on course to surge further clear and hammer home the emphatic win their fans have been craving.
Instead, the late stumbles that plagued them in South Africa returned to haunt them. The Australians defied their underdog tag and came within inches of stealing what would have been a famous win.
Joe Schmidt's side held the All Blacks to just three points in the second stanza, which has done nothing to quieten the alarm bells over the men in black's inability to close out games.
Former All Blacks midfielder Daryl Gibson says fixing that inconsistency over 80 minutes needs to be Robertson's primary focus.
"What we know about Razor's coaching style is he's incredible around galvanising a team towards a vision," Gibson told SENZ's Scotty & Izzy.
"But right now, the reality of the team is that we struggle to perform for the full 80 minutes. Our performance levels dip.
"We've seen in the last five games, particularly in the second half, we're unable to maintain and have that real killer instinct and edge to us to put teams away.
"I'd imagine he'd be sharply focused around 'what are the coaching strategies I can put into place to fix that' and to me at the moment, that's the number one issue."
Gibson - former coach of the Waratahs and assistant with the Crusaders - believes the rapidly decreasing gap between the best teams in the world means coaching has become that much more critical.
"The margins are so fine now around how everyone is playing the game, so there's a real spotlight on our coaching - that technical ability at this level," he noted.
"We've got incredible players. We've always had incredible players and talent. So then, how do we fashion that into something that's a little bit different, a little bit innovative, and when we're under pressure, our skills can really stand up?
"I'd imagine for now, that's where (Robertson's) focus is and needs to be."
Listen to the full interview below:
