Laurie Mains believes that the All Blacks have benefited from Scott Robertson’s persistence after the head coach stuck with Tupou Vaa’i during the Rugby Championship.
The second-row made his international debut four years ago as a 20-year-old and has now earned over 30 caps for the national team.
However, most of those prior to 2024 were off the bench with Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Scott Barrett understandably the favoured locks.
Taking over from the legends
Retallick and Whitelock have since departed the Test scene, handing an opportunity to Vaa’i, who has grasped it with both hands.
He only turned 24 earlier this year, which shows that there is still plenty of room for growth, and former All Blacks head honcho Mains has been impressed by his development under Robertson.
“Some of the younger players are stepping up and I’ve got to say that I was not a big fan of Tupou Vaa’i early on, but he’s got better and better,” he told The Platform.
“I take my hat off to Scott Robertson for persisting with him even when things weren’t going his way. He’s played well over the last couple of games.”
Mains has also been pleased with scrum-half Cortez Ratima after his displays in the Rugby Championship, while the 78-year-old praised the outstanding Will Jordan after the back three star returned to form following his injury.
“I thought we saw a clear definition once Ratima came on [against the Wallabies]. The ball was cleared faster from the base and he’s a very active young player, I think he’s going to develop well,” he said.
“Seeing Will Jordan back at his best, he’s just fantastic to watch. He just creates things out of nothing and he’s a great player.”
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Progress under Robertson
The new head coach came in for some criticism after their poor start to the Rugby Championship, which saw them suffer three defeats in the first four games.
However, they responded to retain the Bledisloe Cup and then followed that up with another victory over the Wallabies.
That has left Mains feeling positive as the All Blacks prepare to head on their northern hemisphere tour.
“There were two things that I was really looking for; a tidy up of the defensive pattern, because Australia got a couple of easy tries off the back of the lineout last week, and they did that,” he added.
“And the other thing for me was when they got their noses in front in previous Tests, they’ve let the opposition play the game they wanted to play, and put them under pressure.
“This time they never gave the ball away to the Wallabies with senseless kicks and made it difficult for Australia to score tries, especially in the second half. They were two big plusses for me.”
READ MORE: Laurie Mains issues warning to Scott Robertson after Beauden Barrett ‘messed around’ by previous All Blacks regimes
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