ABs XV job is for Razor if he wants it
New Zealand Rugby wants Scott Robertson to be coach of the newly minted All Blacks XV when they hit the paddock later this year. It should surprise nobody the Crusaders’ head coach is NZR’s first choice and an offer has been put to him, given he finished runner-up to Ian Foster for the All Blacks top job just a few months ago.
However, while it’s a no-brainer NZR made a beeline for Robertson, perhaps the decision is not quite as clear-cut for the man affectionately known as ‘‘Razor’’.
He will have to determine what the upside of accepting the offer is, and whether coaching an ‘‘All Blacks B’’ team is the correct pathway towards his ultimate goal – coaching international rugby at the top level.
NZR would like Robertson to add international experience to his resume, but would coaching a group of emerging players out of the Mitre 10 Cup, combined with a handful of fringe All Blacks, against, say a French XV, count in their books?
The reality is Robertson, should he take the job, will not be given full control of the squad, which will be picked by Foster and his fellow All Blacks selectors. Effectively, he would be a caretaker coach, one who gets given a group of players and is expected to work wonders with limited time.
Fixtures are yet to be confirmed, but the team will form in full at the conclusion of the national provincial competition (October 24) and will play three matches in the northern hemisphere.
The first match will be at the end of October, followed by games the first two weeks of November.
Whoever is coaching the team – Leon MacDonald and Jason Holland are next in line – can expect players involved in the NPC final to join the team on the Monday, giving them less than a week to prepare for the first match of the tour.
Not ideal. Again, Robertson must decide if it’s worth putting his name on the line for.
Picture this: He’s handed a team of provincial players and a few fringe All Blacks with little time to form combinations. They front against a French XV on a rotten night in Lyon and get tipped up.
Armchair critics would waste no time getting on the blower to drag his name through the mud, hailing NZR for overlooking Robertson as All Blacks coach last year.
NZR chief rugby officer Nigel Cass insists the team will be made up of New Zealand’s ‘‘next best players’’, but realises the All Blacks will take a hefty squad on the northern tour and the All Blacks XV won’t be a true second XV.
Essentially, it will be a development side, and a pathway for senior All Blacks who are returning from injury or searching for form to push for the top side.
Robertson, who has amassed a staggering 53-3-6 record and won three consecutive titles with the Crusaders since taking over ahead of the 2017 season, is contracted to NZR and the Crusaders through 2021.