EDITOR’S LETTER
On his way to Auckland for the Crusaders Super Rugby match against the Blues, Scott Robertson was stopped at the airport by a well wishing woman.
“You have my vote,” she told him. “Unfortunately it’s not an election,” was Robertson’s honest reply.
It wasn’t, but he was the popular choice to replace Ian Foster as All Blacks head coach from next year and, for once, New Zealand Rugby are in tune with their fans.
A New Zealand Herald poll, put up online the day news broke that either Robertson or Jamie Joseph would be named coach later that day, had Robertson roughly three times more popular than Joseph.
There has long been a clamour for the man dubbed Razor (because he used to chop people in scything tackles) to coach the All Blacks.
I wrote about it in the immediate aftermath of the All Blacks semi final loss to England at the 2019 World Cup and again when they beat Wales to finish third, arguing that the All Blacks needed a breath of fresh air.
The issue was that Mark Robinson had gone from the board to CEO and Ian Foster was tipped to go from assistant coach to head coach. Continuity can be good, but sometimes starting fresh is better.
The All Blacks and New Zealand Rugby needed a new broom back then and they will finally get it when Robertson takes over after the World Cup in France.
Most, if not all, of the All Blacks management and assistant coaches will be gone. Some of them have been there since Graham Henry took over in 2004 and others have been there beyond their use-by-date.
Most have done a terrific job - two World Cup titles attest to that - but every organisation needs a refresh once in a while.
There are a lot of staff to replace. There were 23 in the management team last year including Foster - with a business manager included in the team photo, along with two media managers, a logistics manager, nutritionist, manager (leadership) and manager (business and operations), an operations manager and two performance analysts.
There was the usual doctor and physio, plus a muscle therapist, and skills coach Andrew Strawbridge, kicking coach David Hill, scrum coach Greg Feek, veteran strength and conditioning coach Nic Gill (plus an assistant), and assistant coaches Jason Ryan, Joe Schmidt and Scott McLeod, and selector Grant Fox.
Large management teams aren’t new and the purpose here isn’t to denigrate any of the positions or the work they do, it is simply to note that Robertson may have a lot of staff to replace.
One who is likely to remain is Ryan. He and Robertson were a dynamic duo at the Crusaders and though there are whispers they fell out when Ryan joined Foster’s team last year, pragmatism will rule here.
Wayne Smith is tipped to have a peripheral role and that might be as a selector in the way Fox was, and the assistant coaches have always been reported as Leon MacDonald and Jason Holland.
But I wouldn’t rule out someone like Ronan O’Gara, who was with Robertson at the Crusaders, joining the All Blacks. He won’t be the first foreigner involved as Australian Mick Byrne was the skills coach for Henry and Steve Hansen.
There has been speculation this was a one horse race and that Joseph never stood a chance. We may never know.
What we can be confident of is that under Robertson the All Blacks will have a very different vibe than they have had for a very long time - perhaps forever.
Robertson is a bit quirky, a bit different, he is a deep thinker, philosophiser, surfer, free spirit and passionate rugby man.
He will, without question, breakdance on the field should the All Blacks win the 2027 World Cup and what a sight that will be.
Don’t forget to drop me a line at
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