D'Arcy Waldegrave: Twickenham - the yardstick for Robertson's tenure

Yardstick. Barometer. Criterion. Whatever you call it, tomorrow’s test match against the most irritating team in world rugby will determine how Scott Robertson’s tenure to date will be judged. With no respect whatsoever to the Welsh, the Twickenham bunfight will seal the Grand Slam or leave another dirty smudge in Razor’s copybook, which has already attracted a fair amount of filth this year. The phenomenal melt down in Wellington against the Springboks and the Pumas mess will be conveniently overlooked should this season end with Grand Slam success, although imagine rolling the English then getting mugged with a leek the next week. That too would eclipse the South African and Argentine embarrassments, right? The first half of Razor’s reign has been punctuated by inconsistency as he has attempted to settle into life in the international arena. His much-referenced armour chink has always been his lack of experience in the rarefied air of global test match confrontations. It’s more than fair to say that as sign posted as this issue has been, Robertson has still struggled with direction in this space. He has been conservative with his selections, but he’s also given characters a decent shot at retaining their jersey even if they haven't set their matches on fire, Damien McKenzie and Billy Proctor for example. He’s also ushered some players out the back door, goodbye Ioane, Sotutu, and Reece, and introduced some potential long-term superheroes in the form of Holland, Parker, Sititi, and Lakai. He’s also overseen some truly awful second half stats and his collection of cards would look great at the Armageddon expo, but bloody awful in the sheds. As it stands, his half term report is a B, but knocking on the door of an A-, dependent on the Twickenham exchange.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.