New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson has named just one change to his starting XV, that will take on England this Saturday at Eden Park. The alteration comes in the form of the scrum halves, with TJ Perenara ruled out of the match with a knee injury. The nine is replaced by Blues halfback Finlay Christie, with hopeful debutant Cortez Ratima taking his seat on the bench.
Christie was born in Scotland, with the red-haired halfback originally residing in the borders town of Peebles. With the old Anglo enemy emphasised through his Scottish family history, the opportunity to get a win over England burns bright for Christie, as he prepares to start for the All Blacks this Saturday. Whilst Christie’s parents may be adding importance upon the fixture with their Celtic roots, the scrum half has his sole focus performing with a solid start.
“If you asked my parents, I’d say that they would say yeah (Scottish-English rivalry) But I try to keep focused on playing footy. But yeah, I guess anytime Scotland beat England, probably a bit of a fist pump isn’t it.”
“I guess that’s spot on what you said, just try and try and have a cool head, and just play my own game. Not go out there and try and overachieve or anything, and just do what the team needs needs me to do. We’ve obviously got a great team with great players, and we sort of just require everyone to do their role. So that’s what I’ll be looking to do.”
“I don’t I try not to get too emotionally attached, things like that. I just try and go out there and play my game, like I said, and bring energy to the team and do what’s needed.”
A proud representative of the Blues in Super Rugby, Christie is amongst the Auckland contingent of the All Blacks group that call Eden Park their ‘second home’. There have been plenty of Blues speaking upon the importance of Eden Park ahead of this match, with fullback Stephen Perofeta and wing Mark Tele’a amongst those who discussed the fortress of the North Island.
“I guess I’m grateful enough to have it as a home home ground for Super Rugby, but I think it becomes even more special when you wear a black jersey and play there. I guess it’s sort of sort of like the home of rugby for the All Blacks, I guess in New Zealand and being that that big national stadium and it’s just an awesome place to play.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty grateful and I’m stoked to have an opportunity like that. Especially playing back at Eden Park. So it’s going to be a great night.”
Christie and his Blues-All Black teammates have recently experienced the packed house of Eden Park, as the Auckland side lifted the 2024 Super Rugby title a few short weeks ago. Christie came face-to-face with some of his All Black teammates in the final, as the Blues put the Chiefs to the sword, with the likes of Damian McKenzie and Luke Jacobson having to settle for silver medals from the final.
“I guess it’s just different (to Super Rugby). It’s a different level. It’s international rugby now and it was great (the final). Having that one and playing in front of a sold out Eden Park, but it’s a different game. It’s going to be a Test match and the crowd is going to be awesome. Obviously being the home of footy in New Zealand.”
“Gave him (Damian McKenzie) a wee bit of stick last week, but we sort of got through that. We’re on the same team now. So I’ve got one over him, now yeah, we’re on the same team now.”
Having gone from standing across the pitch from McKenzie in the Super Rugby Final, it has been quite the rapid turnaround for Christie who now partners up with the Chiefs halfback. The All Blacks got together for their Summer camp just 10 days before their first Test against England, with the Super Rugby finalists having to promptly swap opponents for allies as they headed down to Dunedin. Speaking on his partnership with McKenzie, Christie said;
“Obviously I’ve played with him a few times now and I get along with him really well. So it’s been going good and we’ve conducted well this week, and got another training this afternoon to sort of build that again.”
The All Blacks could well opt for an all-Chiefs halfback axis for the match’s latter stages, as young gun Cortez Ratima gets set to fire out of the blocks for a debut. Named amongst the replacements as the supporting scrum half, Ratima has been impressing the likes of Christie, as the All Blacks continue their preparations ahead of their encounter with England in Auckland.
Whilst not outwardly expressing a leadership role within the camp, Christie has still been sharing some words of advice with the young scrum half. The Blues man was in a similar position not too long ago, as he learned the ropes of the All Blacks halfback ranks under the guidance of former All Black nine Aaron Smith.
The legendary scrum half has since ended his international career after the Rugby World Cup Final defeat to South Africa, with Christie expressing how there is a certain change to the feel of the camp without the iconic Highlander pulling the attacking strings.
“Yeah, we’ve (Christie and Ratima) worked really closely, I got on really well with him as soon as he come in. I didn’t really know him too well before this all blacks team assembled, but yeah, he’s a really good nine he’s had a great season. He’s got a great work ethic and he’s just looking to learn as much as he can.”
“We all sort of bounced off each other, it doesn’t really feel like that at all. We’re all just here to get better. And I’m learning just as much of them as they might be me. So, yeah, we’ve been getting on really well. And it’s obviously great still having TJ (Perenara) around with all his experience. So yeah, it’s been really good”
“He (Aaron Smith) was obviously a massive part of the team. And for me personally, it was great to learn off and sort of bounce off and draw the experience off from his international level. So I guess whenever you have a player like that leave it does leave a hole. But in saying that I guess it’s a different group, completely with coaches and everything. So there’s always going to be a bit of that new feeling to the connection with Damian (McKenzie).
The red-haired halfback then reflected upon the first Test in Dunedin, and as his own harshest critic, Christie pulled out some faults in his game that he would like to have improved upon. The scrum half was put under pressure by England’s explosive line-speed, and recognised the threat that the Felix Jones patented blitz defence brings to the fray. Expecting more of the same yet hoping to improve his speed of distribution in Eden Park, Christie said;
“I think I can be a lot better coming on with my first reactions, just nailing them. I think I put the team under a bit of pressure last week with my action. I guess we all look to get better. That’s that’s like I said before, if you’re in this environment, you have to be looking to get better and I guess the beauty about playing a team twice is you get to look at it and see what you can do better.
“But we also spoke that England will be doing the same, and they’ll be seeing what I’m seeing, the pictures where they could have done things better as well. So I guess that’s the beauty about it like I said, playing a team twice. The second game everyone’s going to be really firing.”
“We’re (scrum halves) not the ones getting snapped, so not too bad. But, it’s hard to play games, especially if you don’t win that break down area. So they obviously brought a lot of heat with the defence last week. That’s something we’re going to get to look at. We just got to try and win that collision area to make our game flow a bit better.”
“If we’re losing that breakdown, it obviously puts pressure on the nine. If you have to be digging for balls or balls are spitting out for whatever reason. If we can get on that front foot, it’ll flow a bit better.”
With one win from one game under his Test match belt, the new All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson was relieved to hear the blow of the final whistle. It was a whirlwind first test week for the coach known as ‘Razor’, but the former Crusaders boss has taken the step up in his stride, with Christie amongst those players singing his praises after a first successful outing.
“There’s a few things he does differently and a few things that are the same. It’s really played on connection, we’ve obviously only been assembled for a short amount of time coming straight in from Super (Rugby). So it was really important that we connected as a group with the amount of new management and players. That connection piece has been massive for us and we’ve actually gelled together really well. Everyone’s getting along so far.”