Israel Dagg in impassioned plea to All Blacks fans after Scott Robertson’s squad divides opinion

Israel-Dagg-and-Scott-Robertson-1

Israel Dagg has urged the New Zealand public to get behind Scott Robertson and his team after a slightly divisive week following Monday’s squad announcement.

A 32-man group was confirmed earlier in the week – his first as head coach of the national team – and it caused a bit of a stir.

Robertson left out the in-form Hoskins Sotutu for youngster Wallace Sititi, a decision which Sotutu’s Blues team-mate Patrick Tuipulotu disagreed with.

Meanwhile, the move to award Scott Barrett the captaincy was, perhaps inevitably, met with a mixed reaction, given that it was a 50/50 call between Ardie Savea and the Crusaders forward.

That furore has rather irked ex-All Blacks star Dagg, who wants it all to be put to one side ahead of the Test series against a potentially tough England outfit.

‘Time to move on’

“Let’s put a line in the sand here,” he said on SENZ. “There’s comments made from Patrick Tuipulotu in regards to Hoskins Sotutu, there’s comments being made in regards to Ardie Savea missing out on the captaincy.

“Now there’s comments being made about the All Blacks coaching group and how Ian Foster was treated. Well that was nearly a year ago, it’s time to move on.

“It is time to move on and get behind our team, the All Blacks. They are facing a juggernaut that is coming down here from London, who are battle-hardened, that is going to do everything possible to upset Razor’s entrance into international rugby.”

All Blacks star ‘disappointed’ by Scott Robertson’s selection call after Hoskins Sotutu ‘surprisingly’ omitted

The upcoming July Tests will be Robertson’s first matches in charge since taking the role following Ian Foster’s departure after the Rugby World Cup final defeat to the Springboks.

He helped create a dynasty at the Crusaders, guiding them to seven titles in as many seasons, before departing in the wake of their 2023 Super Rugby Pacific triumph.

Robertson has no coaching experience at international level, though, nor has he taken charge of an overseas team, two aspects of his CV which have been questioned by some.

However, Dagg has ridiculed that notion and expects the new All Blacks boss to bring success to the nation.

Belief in Robertson

“Go and watch Razor’s interview on Sky and he talks about, ‘people are always saying you need to go and coach overseas, you need to do this overseas’,” Dagg said.

“Well, he played overseas! He played in France, he had experience from a playing level, he’s been around the globe, he knows what it takes.

“I haven’t been more confident in a bloke coming into an All Blacks team for a very long time, and I’m excited for this.

“Let’s park it and let’s move forward. Start supporting this team and just have belief, and trust that what they’re doing is going to be okay.”