Opinion: NZ Rugby’s ‘search’ for new All Blacks coach stinks of a PR stunt with Scott Robertson’s successor already lined up
Ex-All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson and an inset of NZ Rugby Chairman David Kirk.
Scott Robertson has been dismissed. Now New Zealand Rugby claim to be ‘casting a wide net’ in the search for his successor, but are they really?
Monday’s statement that a five-man panel has been created to appoint the next All Blacks head coach is all good and well, but it stinks of a PR statement to coax many into believing that a thorough search will be conducted.
The panel tasked with conducting the search includes Board Chair David Kirk, Board Member Keven Mealamu, experienced high-performance expert Don Tricker, Interim CEO Steve Lancaster and a recently retired All Blacks player.
The requirements
While this all looks to be above board and standard practice, New Zealand Rugby have set lofty requirements for applicants for the job, which has significantly reduced the number of possible contenders.
“NZR will invite New Zealand coaches with international head coaching experience to apply. The appointment panel will then shortlist and interview candidates,” read a line in the statement announcing that the process was underway.
In one fell swoop, a plethora of top coaches have been removed from the selection pool simply because they are not New Zealanders. A fair decision, as there are enough highly experienced and top-notch New Zealand coaches who could take on the role, so there is no need to consider foreign options.
However, it is that second part of the first line stating that applicants must have international head coaching experience. A requirement that neither Ian Foster nor Robertson had before taking on the job.
In fact, very few head coaches in international rugby had experience as a Test head coach before landing the job. Rassie Erasmus is one of them. He may have worked with the Springboks prior to being named as head coach in 2018, but he never held the top job before.
The same is true for Andy Farrell, Steve Borthwick, Gregor Townsend, Fabien Galthie, and Gonzalo Quesada, to name a few, with the likes of Joe Schmidt and Eddie Jones being the exceptions to the rule.
“It’s an acknowledgement that we are midway through a World Cup cycle, two years out from the next tournament,” NZ Rugby CEO Lancaster said when explaining the reasoning for the job spec.
“We simply do not have time for someone to find their feet in international rugby; we need someone who can hit the ground running and know exactly what they are going into.”
He added: “This is the All Blacks, as a matter of principle, ideally we want a New Zealander coaching that team. We are also very fortunate in New Zealand that we have an incredible amount of amazing coaches, both coaching here and around the world.
“We don’t believe that at this point in time, we need to go outside of New Zealand candidates.”
Lancaster is certainly right that there isn’t a lack of quality Kiwi coaches scattered around the world, but the requirements set by NZ Rugby has drained what was a deep selection pool.
Depleting options
Their options have been further depleted by several coaches pulling out of the race before the greenlight even appeared.
Tony Brown has ruled himself out of the running with his contract with the Springboks running through to the Rugby World Cup, but even he wouldn’t meet the requirements. The same is true for Munster’s Clayton McMillan as well as Pat Lam – who has been hugely successful with clubs Connacht and Bristol Bears.
Robbie Deans fits the criteria set, but the 66-year-old, who has moved into an advisory role with Japanese club the Saitama Wild Knights, emphatically ruled out a return to the international arena last year.
“No, no, I’m good thanks,” he said during his latest stint as Barbarians head coach in South Africa last year.
“I’ve been very lucky as a coach, I’ve had two franchises, two nations and met some great people.”
Still, ex-NZ Rugby chief David Moffett believes that he would be the ideal man for the All Blacks.
“If I was the CEO, I know what I would be doing. Firstly, I would be getting the winningest coach in recent history by a Kiwi, still has the most wins in a win-loss record with the Australian Rugby Union in the professional era. I wouldn’t hesitate and go and get Robbie Deans to take us to the World Cup,” he said on Newstalk ZB’s Summer Breakfast with Andrew Dickens.
“What do you want in a coach? One thing. Somebody who wins. Somebody who can understand how to win. That’s all that matters, you know, so I can’t think of a coach out there who’s got a better win-loss record than Robbie Deans.
“And he most likely wouldn’t want it, but you know, I know him well, I know what he’s done up in Japan, what he did with the Wallabies, with the Crusaders. I mean, that’s who I’d go for.”
Wide net, small pool
Chairman Kirk stated that a ‘wide net’ would be cast to find the next All Blacks coach, but the pool they are going fishing in gets smaller and smaller by the day, with Blues boss Vern Cotter adding to the unavailable candidates.
On Tuesday, he was unveiled as the new Queensland Reds head coach and will take over from Les Kiss, who will lead the Wallabies into the Rugby World Cup, ahead of the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific campaign.
Cotter applied for the All Blacks head coaching position 15 years ago, but ultimately lost out to Steve Hansen, and while he has left the door ajar to coach New Zealand in the future, he is hopeful that his services aren’t required.
The 63-year-old signed his deal with the Reds late last year, and like Brown with the Boks, he plans to honour that commitment.
He fits the bill for NZ Rugby, having coached both Scotland and Fiji at the highest level, as does Joe Schmidt, who has also withdrawn his name from the hat after being sounded out by the union.
Locally, Rob Penney doesn’t meet the requirements, nor do Jono Gibbes, Clark Laidlaw and Tana Umaga.
Furthermore, Sir Wayne Smith has reportedly left his position in the New Zealand Rugby structures for an opportunity abroad.
So who is left?
Ultimately, it’s Dave Rennie, Jamie Joseph, Warren Gatland, John Mitchell, Hansen, Foster and Kieran Crowley. That’s it.
The thinning of the pack is certainly intentional from New Zealand Rugby, but it also goes against the claim that a wide net is being cast.
Effectively, it’s a seven-man shortlist, but realistically, what are the chances that Hansen and Foster actually apply for the gig? The latter left NZ Rugby on bad terms after the previous board attempted to axe him midway through the 2023 Rugby World Cup cycle. He had the buy-in from the players who saved him from the sack.
Still, it would take some doing to put that bad blood to bed. Additionally, he and Hansen have endured a torrid run of results in Japan with the Toyota Verblitz despite the firepower and financial backing the club has.
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At 66 and being out of the international game since 2019, one has to question whether Hansen is still up for the top All Blacks job, too. He was hugely successful during this time in charge with the side but when he announced that he’d be stepping down from the position, he was adamant it was final. This after he was persuaded to extend his contract through to 2019 after he initially intended to step down in 2017.
The question now is, has his stance changed since then? It’s unlikely.
What about Mitchell? The timing could work out for him with his contract with the England women’s team expiring at the end of the upcoming Six Nations. He ticks the boxes for international experience and being a New Zealander, but he does look to be a very unlikely appointment.
That leaves us with three: Rennie, Joseph and Gatland
Gatland boasts the most comprehensive CV of the lot, courtesy of his time with Wales and the British and Irish Lions, but NZ Rugby will be wary of how his second stint with Welsh Rugby ended. He still maintains the dream of coaching the All Blacks and will undoubtedly throw his name into the hat but it does look to be a long shot.
With all this in mind, it leads one to think that NZ Rugby threw Robertson under the bus with one of Rennie or Joseph in mind to take over the reins, with the latter seemingly the frontrunner, as the former also didn’t leave NZ Rugby on good terms when he joined Glasgow Warriors and then Australia.
Joseph may have been rebuffed twice for the All Blacks job, but it’s clear that he is eager to take on the challenge. He operated as the All Blacks XV’s head coach last year and ticks the required boxes that look to be tailor-made to pave his way to the position.
He has international experience thanks to his successful stint with Japan, leading the side to their best-ever finish in a Rugby World Cup and will have expert knowledge of the ins and outs of the New Zealand Rugby set-up.
The draining of the potential pool of coaches to select from suggests that the claim that the board had no one in mind as to who would replace Robertson is utter garbage, smoke and mirrors to paint the picture that a diligent process would be followed.
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