WHO WILL BE THE NEXT ALL BLACKS COACH? Battle lines drawn in race for
The favoured candidates for head coach of the All Blacks have been staking their claims around the world over the past few years. Paul Cully assesses the options.
Joe Schmidt: Ireland coach has built them into a formidable team and has been quietly building their depth at the same time. He is setting up Ireland for success in the present and the future, which is the All Blacks way. Has built a reputation for designing clever set-piece moves and eliminating errors, and has not been afraid to publicly chastise players if they fall short of his high standards around discipline. In theory, if he brings that template to the All Blacks, while still giving them some licence to express themselves, they will be extremely hard to beat. His willingness to bring in someone like Andy Farrell, a big identity, shows Schmidt wants to have strong characters around him, and puts the performance of his team first. Looks like an All Blacks coach from his head to his toes, and his passion for New Zealand rugby is clearly undimmed despite his work with Ireland. A possible dream team with Vern Cotter.
Ian Foster: Not the public’s first choice, but has the benefit of already being inside the All Blacks tent. Since joining the All Blacks as an assistant in 2012 he helped them to a World Cup win and would have built up strong relationships with the players and the Super Rugby coaches, as well as a deep knowledge about the way the All Blacks work. That counts for a lot. Calm and collected demeanour points to a personality that is extremely well suited to the pressures of the job. Lack of a Super Rugby title with the Chiefs still rankles with some supporters, but it is debatable how relevant that is now. Ultimately, he will be judged by the All Blacks’ performances at the World Cup, and if they win a third successive cup how many would object to the Waikato man getting the top job?
Scott Robertson: Two campaigns with the Crusaders, two Super Rugby titles. Clearly too young to be the All Blacks though, isn’t he? Well, therein lies the conundrum. What Robertson has shown in over the past two years that he is connected to the same frequency as New Zealand’s rugby players in a way that no one else is. It turns out, too, that he has sold the greatest dummy of all time, as his Sumner surfer persona masks a keen analytical eye. Like Schmidt, his recruitment of a big name such as Ronan O’Gara to his staff shows a lack of ego and the Crusaders’ players seem to skip into training to be part of Robertson’s gang. Appeals as the agent of change should, God forbid, things go pear-shaped for New Zealand at the World Cup and the country needs to put a smile back on its face.
Warren Gatland: He took a battered British and Irish Lions side, at the end of a long season, and guided them a series draw in New Zealand, with virtually no preparation time. What else do you need to know? The Lions job is as close as you can get to the All Blacks role in terms of pressure and Gatland is still standing after two [undefeated] tours as head coach. And he is still evolving, changing up his tactics after the first test of the 2017 Lions series, and then refreshing the Welsh side when he returned to Cardiff. He is even beginning to reverse Wales’ famously poor record against southern hemisphere teams, beating the Springboks and the Wallabies over the past 12 months. The big question is: does he have enough admirers at New Zealand Rugby?
. . . his Sumner surfer persona masks a keen analytical eye.
Jamie Joseph: Move to Japan was a smart play – Joseph is gaining the test exposure NZ Rugby wants and if he copes with the pressure of coaching the World Cup’s host nation that would be a big tick. Joseph’s teams play with an identity: they are hard-working and smart. His biggest achievement