All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has looked to defuse the idea that the ill feeling between his side and Ireland will seep into next month’s eagerly anticipated rematch in Dublin.
Johnny Sexton’s detailed explanation of his exchange with centre Rieko Ioane, which caused a storm in New Zealand after extracts from his new book were published three weeks’ ago, have upped the ante ahead of the November 8 clash.
Sexton alleged that Ioane told him to “enjoy your retirement, you c***” and said his behaviour undermined the All Blacks’ famed ‘no d*******s’ culture. Ioane responded with a social media post that appeared to mock Sexton.
Robertson named a number of changes to his squad overnight after losing forwards Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson and Dalton Papali’i through injury. He’s called up Hurricanes back-row Peter Lakai and Taranaki second-row Josh Lord.
New Zealand play Japan and England before arriving in Dublin in the third game of a challenging tour that sees them face France and Italy in their final two matches.
At his squad announcement press conference, Robertson was asked about the Sexton/Ioane storm.
“Look, it’s a bit of a story isn’t it,” the former Crusaders chief said.
“A bit of history in the channels of time. I spoke to Rieko about it and asked him how I should discuss it and he said ‘no, no; done coach’.
“When people write books and bring up moments, it’s going to create chat and talk and that’s part of the game.
“It doesn’t matter what sport, you’ve got real rivalries and there’s still a lot of respect that we need to show.”
Robertson is relishing this tour which will test his new All Blacks side to the limits against some of the best teams in the sport, in full stadiums and different conditions.
“When you got the schedule over a year ago, you looked at it and said ‘here we go’. We’ll find out a bit about ourselves.
“We’ve had time to prepare well, when you’re on tour there’s great things. It’s a chance to get tight, get a collective buy in and that’s what we’re looking forward to,” he said.
“The margins, if you look at it historically and the stats — the competition has evened up. Smaller margins, tighter matches. Defensively, teams are better and more aggressive.
“There’s still opportunities, but that’s what we’re looking for; people going to the matches wondering what’s going to happen. That’s the entertaining part of the game.”
“Playing good footie, get the energy right and the mindset right. We’ve got our structure right, the Northern tour — it’s about getting excited and finishing the opportunities we’re creating.
“That (the atmosphere) is all part of it. The singing, getting to the game early and having a couple of quiet ones — it’s a different atmosphere and we’ll look forward to it and embrace it.”