All Blacks star breaks silence on coach’s ‘surprise’ departure and addresses potential tour disruption
All Blacks coach Jason Holland and hooker Codie Taylor.
All Blacks centurion Codie Taylor conceded that he was caught off guard by the news that backs coach Jason Holland would be exiting the set-up.
It was revealed last week that the 53-year-old would be leaving the New Zealand backroom team upon the expiry of his contract.
Holland only signed a two-year deal when he joined the All Blacks following the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup and ultimately decided not to engage in negotiations to renew that contract.
All parties have stated that it was a call made by the man himself, with Scott Robertson insisting that there was no pressure from the New Zealand Rugby board to make a change despite their mixed form this season.
Taylor’s shock
That did not stop the players from admitting their shock over the exit of Holland with Taylor making an honest admission.
“I would be lying if I said I was not surprised,” he told reporters.
While Robertson and Holland addressed the news late last week, Taylor became the first All Blacks star to speak about it from a player’s perspective.
It could prove to be an unnecessary distraction for both players and coaches but the hooker insists that it has been nipped in the bud.
“It hasn’t changed anything, Alfie [Holland] has owned it straight away in one of the first meetings we had on this tour,ā he said.
“He wants to give his all before he steps away. But on a personal level I have the utmost respect for him to be able to do that.
“He is obviously aware of some stuff that he wants to work on away from rugby.”
While Holland made his name in the coaching world at the Hurricanes, firstly as an assistant before becoming the head honcho in 2020, he also spent time at Canterbury.
That is where Taylor, who was just starting out on his professional career, first came across the former fly-half.
“I have had him for a long time, with Canterbury back in the day,” he said. “He is a great coach and whatever he takes up, I just wish the best for him.”
Focus switches to Ireland
After the shock of the news last week, focus has now turned to the huge upcoming match with Ireland at Soldier Field.
It will take place almost nine years to the day they first played the Irish in Chicago, where Joe Schmidt’s men claimed a historic victory.
āThe week itself was pretty awesome, coming to Chicago for the first time, the Cubs won the World Series, massive parades of people in the city, four million or something, experiencing an NBA game, all that stuff was cool,ā Taylor said.
āI just think we probably turned up and got caught up in the light of the city and went down to an Irish team that was pretty determined to beat us for the first time.ā
The All Blacks front-rower duly believes that lessons have been learned from that day as they look to end 2025 on a high.
āHave a bit of fun early on. [Now], it’s Monday for us, so test week has rolled in, there’s definitely a sense of intensity with the preparation,ā Taylor added.