Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read believes that any apparent dissatisfaction with Scott Robertson should have been nipped in the bud before the ill-fated review.
The Crusaders legend was sacked in January following an underwhelming couple of seasons in charge.
An end-of-season review, in which the senior players were interviewed by a panel led by NZ Rugby chair David Kirk, appeared to put paid to Robertson’s chances of leading them into the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Concerns with the All Blacks’ ‘trajectory’ were cited by Kirk as the reason for the change in head coach, but there were reports of players being unhappy with the culture and environment.
If that was the case, Read suggested that those views should have been out in the open in order to potentially rectify the issues.
‘You shouldn’t be getting to that’
“I can’t say what happened. You look at it from the perspective around culture and around needing alignment between everyone,” he told the Between Two Beers podcast.
“The only whispers you can gain from are what’s been said in the media, which tells you there maybe wasn’t quite alignment there.
“To me I look at that and go, ‘that’s tough to take as an ex-player’. I think as players you shouldn’t be getting to that. You should be proactive and what you can try and achieve in this team, and that’s really about having conversations that need to be had.”
Kieran Read’s ‘tough’ verdict on Dave Rennie’s All Blacks after the Wallabies made ‘stupid’ decision
Read therefore hopes that the All Blacks players “find their voice” with Dave Rennie now at the helm as they look ahead to a huge Test season, which includes four Tests against the Springboks in The Greatest Rivalry series.
Massive 2026
“With Dave Rennie coming in, you’ve got three games and then you’re going to one of our greatest rivals. It’s the best tour, that would be so awesome to play on that tour,” the two-time Rugby World Cup winner said.
“You need your players to be fully committed and the players need to find their voice. They can’t wait to see what Dave’s going to be like, they need to go and be proactive, the players need to start the discussions because there are other guys out there.
“That essentially is what it comes down to and it’s more and more that way – the players are the ones out there.
“They need to find that voice so they will need to do that themselves but also be given that opportunity.”
Read knows Robertson well having worked with him while at the Crusaders and believes that he could benefit from the All Blacks disappointment in the long-term.
“I just look at it from the perspective of being a mate and you feel for him,” he added.
“I kind of go, ‘how or why it couldn’t be fixed?’ Obviously, something’s in there, I’m not privy to that information so it’s a case of an ex-player’s perspective where you want the jersey to be at its best.
“You definitely feel for Razor. There are lessons within that, let’s not lose those lessons over the last couple of years. It’s going to require the players to step up because Dave Rennie’s coming in and he hasn’t got the same lessons that Razor’s got.
“What Razor’s just had over those two years, they’re going to be so valuable for him moving forward.”