Former All Blacks scrum half Justin Marshall has called for a rethink in how the All Blacks finish off games this season, including the introduction of a Super Rugby rising star off the bench.

The All Blacks battled to finish Tests strongly in Scott Robertson’s first season in charge – going five straight Tests where they failed to score in the final 20 minutes.

With Aaron Smith and TJ Perenara having come to the end of their All Blacks careers, the jersey has been more up for grabs than in the past decade.

Marshall has talked up the ability of Crusaders’ Kyle Preston to make an impact off the bench, and compared him to France great Antoine Dupont.

“I think we’ve recognised that we needed to have that element of what Aaron Smith bought, which was just a second, third arriver at the breakdown, crisp, clean pass, and we’re rifling onto the ball,” Marshall said on The Breakdown.

Kyle Preston of the Crusaders scores a try during the round two Super Rugby Pacific match between Chiefs and Crusaders at FMG Stadium, on February 21, 2025, in Hamilton, New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

“It’s been really interesting talking to James O’Connor over the last two months and he just can’t believe the speed that New Zealand teams play at, that’s our strength being able to rifle onto the ball, half-backs that get there quickly and let go of it.

“He said, ‘I’ve not experienced that anywhere else in the world’ and he’s played all over the world. They are all very good there, none of them are behind the eight ball in getting to the breakdowns, they’re all the second or third or first fittest in the teams with regularity.

“So we need to offer up something different and think about what we are doing in the last 20 minutes of these Test matches in particular. At the moment, we are conspiring to lose them because whatever we’re doing with our bench is not changing the picture and it’s not helping us win Test matches.

“So do we bring a player on that changes the perspective for others like a Preston, who can kick off both feet and then the pressure goes off the other kickers.”

Preston has stepped up in 2025 and scored five tries in nine appearances after emerging to replace injured Noah Hotham.

“He’s smart, he knows very much what his strengths are and is very, very skilled to be able to bang the kick off both left and right foot,” said Marshall.

“Not everybody in the world apart from him and Antoine Dupont can do that, now he’s not bad is he. He doesn’t seem to do much wrong either; he’s got good support lines, scored three tries in his first game for the Crusaders, and he’s just a really intelligent player.

“He can kick off both feet but he doesn’t just kick the ball away. When he does kick it, he kicks it at the right time and kicks it to try and get it back and put the opposition under pressure.”