Stephen Donald’s ‘outlandish’ suggestion to succeed Scott Robertson as All Blacks greats could provide Rugby World Cup ‘rescue mission’
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson and former Test fly-half Stephen Donald.
Rugby World Cup winner Stephen Donald has thrown the names of two former All Blacks head coaches out there as New Zealand Rugby search for Scott Robertson’s successor.
The 51-year-old was fired just under two years out from the global tournament in Australia, leaving the team in a state of uncertainty looking towards that event.
Many names have been linked to the role but few, if any, have mentioned Steve Hansen and Ian Foster, who were Robertson’s predecessors.
Both were part of the coaching group, led by Hansen, that won the 2015 World Cup, while Foster was in charge of the All Blacks between between 2019 and 2023.
They are currently coaching together in Japan but, if the governing body are looking for a short-term solution, Donald has suggested those World Cup winners.
‘We’re trying to win a World Cup here’
“There are two guys coaching at Toyota together, for two years could you not go to Steve Hansen and Ian, and say: ‘Do you want it?’ Has that conversation been had? Has it been offered?” he said on The Aftermatch with Kirst and Beav.
“We’re talking outlandish here, that’s what we do on The Aftermatch, but has that conversation been had?
“Those two in particular, they’re not too far gone, they’re not dithery. You wouldn’t call either of them dithery and if I did, I would hear about it.
“Is that conversation being had or would that be seen as a step back and we’ve moved on from that? Or is it a case of, ‘we’ve got two years, we’re trying to win a World Cup here’.”
Host Kirstie Stanway-Thorne then chimed in, saying: “So you’re saying rescue mission”, to which Donald responded: “It’s a salvage job, if you’re not going the obvious which for me is Jamie Joseph.”
The former fly-half did state that a Hansen-Foster partnership would be “fantasy”, however, and that there are several other options before getting to that point.
The frontrunners
Joseph remains the favourite while Joe Schmidt was also among the frontrunners for many observers, but reports have suggested that he has ruled himself out of the All Blacks head coach role.
Could Schmidt possibly be convinced to join as an assistant, though, just like he did in 2022 under Foster? If that was the case, Donald believes that it would have helped Vern Cotter’s cause, but he has since committed to Australian side the Reds for the next two seasons.
“What is good for Vern is long time overseas, successful overseas and lots of experience. He comes back, wins a title with the Blues; no one could win a title for the Blues for 20 years,” he said.
“Who’s his best relationship in coaching? Joe Schmidt. Joe all of a sudden with Vern, that would be a conversation without a shadow of a doubt.”
Joseph may also be hindered by Tony Brown’s willingness to see out his contract with the Springboks, although Donald thinks ego can be put aside to get him a high quality assistant.
“I think you’re looking at Jamie and then I hope, if it’s Tony Brown-less, he grabs Dave Rennie,” he added.
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