Robertson makes sure message gets across

SCOTT Robertson has never needed a publicity agent to trumpet his serial success on behalf of the Crusaders and remind New Zealand’s rugby kingmakers of what they are missing by not asking him to stop the All Black rot toute de suite.

Nor can he have subscribed to the old-school view that winning coaches let their track records speak for themselves. Instead Robertson took to the airwaves, via the Big Jim Show, to declare himself open to offers on a global scale.

For the uninitiated, the Big Jim Show is a podcast hosted by Big Jim, alias ex-Scotland second row Jim Hamilton. At the outset, Robertson made it clear he was interested only in an international job and nothing as mundane as running a non-Test team.

“If New Zealand rugby want me, great,” he said. “And if there’s another country but I wouldn’t go to a club now. I want to go to the Rugby World Cup.

“It’s one job (All Blacks’ head job) and when someone doesn’t give it to you, you have to think differently about what opportunities are out there. It would be great to win the World Cup with your own country but you have to keep your options open.’’

Robertson flew to Sydney for a meeting with Eddie Jones on the weekend of the Australia-England decider. He told Big Jim that the talks were not “anything to do with the (England) job”.

The fact that Robertson is under contract to the NZRU until 2024 somewhat devalued his “open to offers” message.

His agreement allows him to leave a year earlier but if the All Blacks fail in France, the job will probably be his for the taking before the end of next year, assuming he can wait that long.