Schalk Burger: All Blacks don’t have to look far to see the impact of a new coach
All Blacks Ardie Savea and Cam Roigard with an inset of Springboks legend Schalk Burger.
Springboks legend Schalk Burger says he was ‘surprised’ by Scott Robertson’s sacking but warns that the All Blacks could turn things around quickly.
New Zealand Rugby have began the process to find Robertson’s successor, with Dave Rennie and Jamie Joseph understood to be the frontrunners.
However, it has been reported that former head coaches Ian Foster and Sir Steve Hansen have been approached by NZ Rugby to apply for the job.
With the application window closed, the panel consisting of NZR Chair David Kirk, ex-All Blacks hooker and NZR board member Keven Mealamu, former NZR head of high performance Don Tricker, acting NZR chief executive Steve Lancaster, and retired All Black Dane Coles will conduct the interviews before presenting their preferred candidate to the board, who make the final decision.
Robertson’s sacking came after a comprehensive review of the 2025 international season, with reports suggesting that negative feedback from the players played a significant role in his departure.
Reaction to Robertson’s sacking
Speaking on the Boks Unpacked podcast, Burger was asked whether he was surprised by the decision.
“I think so,” he replied. “They are still ranked second in the world, I know the rankings will change now after Six Nations but you often think this is a different generation of players and maybe that’s what they can achieve.
“Trying to hog back to the generation we played against, that super generation, Ian Foster was from that ilk, and that was pretty much the pinnacle and not the current crop of players.
“The decision also shows the power of the players in New Zealand. The previous generation also, Foster after two years lost pretty much his entire coaching staff.”
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Burger admits that he has ‘absolutely no idea’ who the next coach will be with the Nations Championship, Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour and Rugby World Cup fast approaching.
Speaking to the press after Robertson’s dismissal, Kirk stated that the All Blacks ‘weren’t on track for the 2027 Rugby World Cup’ which prompted the change.
While Burger admits that it will be difficult for whoever takes over, he and former Bok hooker Hanyani Shimange state that it is ‘doable’ with Rassie Erasmus proving as much after taking the reins at South Africa 18 months out from the World Cup.
“New Zealand do regenerate quickly,” Shimange said.
Burger added: “Rassie Erasmus was 18 months out, but he was not targeting 2019 World Cup and we somehow snuck that one. It’s doable.”
Shimange replied: “It’s a hard ask, though, to come here for the Greatest Rivalry. It’s probably the hardest start any coach would get.”
Rapid turnarounds
Erasmus is a prime example of how a coach can turn things around so quickly before a Rugby World Cup and the same is true for Steve Borthwick, who led England to the semi-finals of the World Cup having taken on the job at a similar time.
However, Burger pointed to his 2007 Rugby World Cup-winning teammate JP Pietersen as an example as to how impactful a new voice leading the team can be.
Late last year, Pietersen took charge of the Sharks on an interim basis after John Plumtree stepped down and while the uptick in performance wasn’t immediate, they managed back-to-back wins over the Stormers last month.
“We don’t have to look very far to see what a new coach and energy can provide. Look at the Sharks. JP is doing well,” he said.
“Not great performances at the start but then gets one little win before they get back-to-back wins against Stormers in the double header and if you look at the two, the scoreboard in the second game probably flatters them a bit more, but 36-24 and 30-19 against the then-top of the log Stormers.
“All that was was a proper new voice, energy, players fronting up. The way they played didn’t change; they were set-piece to set-piece, dominating the aerial kicking game, but the fact that they played with so much more ambition and energy, that’s just a change of voice.”
Former Springboks centre Jean de Villiers, agreed, “And it’s not the it’s not always the technical stuff.”
Shimange added: “You can see some of the players have been just rejuvenated.”
Before de Villiers continued: “Yes, rejuvenated and encouraging or incorporating belief, giving you a different sense of belief, and you going out and applying that in whatever way.
“So, yeah, well done JP. I’m ecstatic for him.”
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