Scott Robertson insists the All Blacks will have no qualms with a challenge to the haka from England at Twickenham on Saturday, so long as it is done “respectfully”.
Last year’s Twickenham encounter saw England advance to the halfway line to the delight of an 82,000 crowd before being edged 24-22 by New Zealand, while in 2019 they lined up in a ‘V formation’ before stunning the All Blacks 19-7 in a dramatic World Cup semi-final success in Japan.
England prop Joe Marler, who has now retired, raised the temperature ahead of last year’s clash by saying the haka was “ridiculous” and “needs binning”, provoking an angry reaction in New Zealand.
The build-up this time around has been far less fiery, with New Zealand coach Robertson relishing the spectacle created by a response to the haka, a traditional Maori war dance.
“The haka’s setting a challenge and if someone does something different, respectfully, you welcome it,” Robertson told reporters in London after naming his side on Thursday.
“There are always rules of engagement around it, but they know what we’re going to do. If you haven’t planned or covered off what they’re going to do, it can be unexpected, and that’s part of it.”
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England are on a nine-game winning streak against all opponents but lost three times last year to the All Blacks, albeit by a collective margin of just 10 points.
Saturday’s clash could yet be decided by a ‘battle of the benches’, with New Zealand including Wallace Sititi, Anton Lienert-Brown and Damian McKenzie, fresh from his match-winning cameo against Scotland last week, among their replacements.
England, following the lead of the Springboks’ Bomb Squad, have stacked their bench with forwards, including five British & Irish Lions, with the reinforcements proving pivotal to wins over Australia and Fiji so far this month.
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“The finishing of Test matches is critical and whoever you bring on needs to make an impact,” said Robertson. “We’ve got good cohesion after a couple of Tests. A lot of the combinations have played together and we have a good, powerful bench to get us home.”
The All Blacks will be led by Scott Barrett after the lock recovered from a wound needing 12 stitches sustained in a win against Ireland in Chicago at the start of their end-of-year tour.
“It’s remarkable once you saw Scott’s cut, he’s got good healing powers,” Robertson said. “We’ve had to pull him back a bit in training. He’s ready to go.”
– AFP
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
