Robertson praises All Blacks effort
It wasn't always pretty - and sometimes downright frustrating - but the All Blacks are off to a three-win start to the season.
The 29-19 victory over France in Hamilton last night was one that saw them behind until almost an hour into the game.
"We found a way to win and really good footy," said head coach Scott Robertson after the match.
"Some really good stuff in it and we'll be better for it… some of it wasn't pretty and we understand that."
Robertson made 10 changes to his side that won comfortably 43-17 in Wellington last weekend, so cohesion was going to be a little bit of a challenge, but that was before injuries to Rieko Ioane and Luke Jacobson forced late reshuffles.
However, one of the most pleasing aspects for Robertson will be the impact of his bench that saw Jordie Barrett pull off a try-saving tackle and Brodie McAlister scoring the decisive try on debut.
"(McAlister)'s try was great… he got there, slid in nicely. Those are big moments, the whole front row we rolled early, they were superb. We had a couple of injuries… but the guys just battled on."
The All Blacks enjoyed an 88% possession advantage in the last 20 minutes - a match-winning statistic in any test - forcing the French to make 170 more tackles overall, a staggering disparity.
The match had an eerily similar feel to the first test in Dunedin, in which France took an early lead and seemingly stayed in touch with the All Blacks on the scoreboard right till the end. The Kiwis won 31-27.
However, last night's score doesn't reflect the utter dominance in territory and possession the All Blacks enjoyed for the final 15-20 minutes, by which time the French had really run out of ideas on attack. Savea proud of effort
Captain Ardie Savea admitted the All Blacks had been "punched in the nose" in the first half.
"But we came back in the second, but like Razor [Robertson] said you have to credit the French defence, stopping tries on their line.
"That takes character, but I'm proud of our men too for doing their job, rolling their sleeves up and coming away with the win."
Savea, who was wearing a French tracksuit jacket for the news conference, praised their unfancied opposition for the effort.
"I think the French put us under a lot of pressure and we spilled the ball, gave them opportunities, gave them scraps. And that was through the pressure that they put on us, they just kept compounding their threes (penalty goals) and got out to a good lead.
"So that was a moment where we as leaders just took a big breath and used the tools that we have."
One thing the All Blacks had to adjust to before the ball had even been kicked off was a reshuffle in the loose forwards, with Jacobson pulling out with an injury sustained in the warmup.
"It's been one of those things, an innocuous events. Luke had just come out of a maul, he said his quad was gone. And we knew straight away there was going to be a change, and we really feel for him, it was a big night for him at home," Robertson said.
While it probably wasn't as convincing a set of scores that we'd been led to believe in the lead-up to this series, that probably says more about France than the All Blacks.
Twice in three games they had to overcome an early deficit and then control the tempo at the business end, which they undeniably did perfectly in Dunedin and Hamilton.
The All Blacks now have almost a month before The Rugby Championship begins, when the team face Argentina in two away tests.
The squad is expected to be named on August 4.
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