All Blacks great Murray Mexted believes that Scott Robertson may have to sacrifice the talents of Wallace Sititi if they are to get the better of the Springboks this year.
The 22-year-old was the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year in 2024 having shone in the second half of New Zealand’s Test campaign.
Sititi has spent the entirety of the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season on the sidelines so far, although he is expected to return to action soon in what would be a boost to Robertson.
However, as it stands, Mexted wants height and size in the back five of the scrum, starting at lock where captain Scott Barrett is an automatic selection.
All Blacks captain’s partner
In 2024, the skipper was usually partnered by Tupou Vaa’i, who finally started to reach his potential, but the 71-year-old insists that the All Blacks need someone taller alongside Barrett.
“Scott Barrett is the best lock we’ve got, he’s world-class and he’s two metres tall. The other lock really has to be over two metres because if you look at [Sam] Whitelock and [Brodie] Retallick, they were 2.03m and 2.04m, pretty big men,” he told the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin.
“We can’t play with smaller locks, we’ve got to play with locks as big as them or bigger. Scott Barrett’s a little bit shorter than Whitelock for example but he’s a world-class player, so he secures one position.
“I would then make a choice, and this might surprise you. I’ve been looking at the size of the players around the country and we’ve got the Springboks here in New Zealand, so we’ve got to have a guy that can compete in an aerial position and he’s got to be the best we’ve got in the country.
“At the moment, I reckon it’s probably [Josh] Lord but the other guy I’ve made a note of is this guy [Fabian] Holland. He’s a big man – they’re both very big men – and in the old language they’re both about 6ft 8in.”
It would be a big call to alter that Barrett-Vaa’i partnership but Mexted is concerned about how they would fare against the Springboks at set-piece time, despite his impressive performances in South Africa last year.
“Vaa’i is playing so well and he’s so hungry, it’s just that he’s not much taller than me. You can’t put a 1.96m guy (editor’s note: 1.98m) against a 2.06m guy,” he said.
“He might win most of his own ball, he will probably lose one, maybe two, but he’s not going to win any opposition ball.
“At the end of the day, it’s about how much possession you have and if you don’t have more than 50 per cent against the Springboks, you’re not going to beat them.”
Mexted would not drop Vaa’i altogether, however, and can envisage him moving to blindside to allow one of Lord or Holland to come in.
“So let’s put him in the team at blindside flanker. I know we tried him there once and he looked a bit lost, but you can’t blame a guy when he’s been moved from lock,” he said.
“He needs to be playing week in, week out at blindside flanker and then we’ve got a blindside that’s big enough to compete.”
Final two spots
That leaves two spaces to fill, with one of those obviously being taken by former World Rugby Player of the Year Ardie Savea.
It just depends on whether that is at openside or number eight. Many observers want to see him back at flanker, which would then potentially allow Sititi to feature in his favoured position at the base of the scrum.
Mexted does not agree, though, and he effectively wants Robertson to play with two opensides so that they can go hard at the breakdown, on both sides of the ball.
“I want players that can win the ball and I want openside flankers whose game is attacking the ball. Number seven and number eight are very similar positions these days because they need to put pressure on the ball, they need to recover ball,” he added.
“I would play the two best guys that we’ve got in the country at openside flanker. Who are the best openside flankers in the country?
“The Hurricanes have got one, [Du’Plessis] Kirifi’s been playing very well, but the Crusaders have got one too – his name’s [Ethan] Blackadder.”
“To me, I would be playing Ardie Savea at number eight. He’s our best player, he’s been playing number eight for years.
“Blackadder’s got a bit more height and he’s got a hell of a work rate, and I would play him with Ardie at eight because Ardie’s the man.”
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/all-blacks-great-urges-scott-robertson-to-make-bold-calls-in-order-to-compete-with-springboks-as-wallace-sititi-sacrificed
