The former Crusaders head coach will take command of his first New Zealand game in three months, against the Red Rose in Dunedin.
Despite Beauden Barrett’s return from Japan, Damian McKenzie, the favourite for the position, is not a proven Test fly-half.
Behind them is Stephen Perofeta, who has only three caps, and possibly the Hurricanes’ Brett Cameron, following his good Super Rugby Pacific debut.
However, the former scrum-half believes that Robertson has fewer options than he would prefer.
“I don’t feel like we have a lot of depth in our fly-half area,” he told Newstalk ZB.
Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga have dominated the “10” jersey to some extent over the last decade. There have been few introductions and opportunities for somebody like Damian McKenzie. Ian Foster fooled around with Stephen Perofeta.
Centre
Marshall also feels that Robertson should be concerned about outside centre, which has long been a problem for New Zealand head coaches.
Foster struggled to find an answer but eventually landed on Rieko Ioane, who became an important part of the backline before and during the 2023 World Cup.
“Another place that I am concerned about is the centre. We’ve had to move a world-class winger, possibly one of the fastest in the world, to centre because we never replaced Conrad Smith,” he said.
“Jack Goodhue, with his injury difficulties, was viewed as a possible successor. But, to that extent, nobody else has come through and been completely catastrophic.
“I felt Leicester Fainga’anuku could be the answer, but he’s definitely gone on as well.
