{"id":416465,"date":"2026-01-16T08:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/416465\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T08:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:17:14","slug":"robertson-departure-shows-fragility-of-modern-day-coaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/416465\/","title":{"rendered":"Robertson departure shows fragility of modern day coaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scott Robertson\u2019s shock departure as All Blacks<\/a> head coach shows the fragility of modern-day coaching as well as the increasing prevalence of player power in rugby.<\/p>\n

The trigger is being pulled much earlier nowadays, although we aren\u2019t quite in football territory yet, and everyone understands it\u2019s a results-based business, but sometimes it isn\u2019t down to wins and losses at all.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s certainly the case in this instance, given Robertson won 20 of his 27 Tests in charge and had a better record than predecessor Ian Foster, as the outcome of an internal review has been responsible for his demise.<\/p>\n

In terms of win percentage, he\u2019s around the same as Fabien Galthie<\/a> and only a couple of per cent behind Andy Farrell and Rassie Erasmus<\/a> in terms of the current top international coaches, so his tenure has been far from disastrous.<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Robertson<\/a> acknowledges the crowd after the Quilter Nations Series 2025 rugby international match between Wales<\/a> and New Zealand<\/a> at Principality Stadium on November 22, 2025 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Huw Fairclough\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Admittedly, a record defeat to South Africa<\/a> didn\u2019t help his cause one bit, but the other notable defeats in Argentina<\/a> and at Twickenham are hardly reasons to be pushing the panic button.<\/p>\n

However, certain players clearly haven\u2019t been happy with the coaching methods, and the players\u2019 voices have become a lot more important over the course of the last 10 or 15 years.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t the first time a review has led to the departure of a head honcho; you only have to look at what happened to Martin Johnson<\/a> with England<\/a> in 2011, but it does feel like this is different, and there is a sense that if it can happen to Robertson, it can happen to anyone.<\/p>\n

The former Crusaders<\/a> boss won seven consecutive Super Rugby titles, so the results below international level were there, and one of his great assets has always been his popularity with his players as well as the media and wider public.<\/p>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, he\u2019s come across as a really good bloke in my few dealings with him, but he seems to have divided opinion inside the All Blacks camp, and New Zealand Rugby have acted in order to keep more players from leaving with a World Cup two years away.<\/p>\n

\"AllArdie Savea Scott Robertson\u201d width=\u201d1024\u2033 height=\u201d576\u2033 \/> WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND \u2013 AUGUST 09: Scott Robertson and captain Ardie Savea talk during a New Zealand All Blacks captain\u2019s run at Sky Stadium on August 09, 2024 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Ardie Savea has obviously been mentioned as he has spoken out publicly and is the best player in the side, but there will be others as well, and it isn\u2019t Robertson\u2019s fault that the lure of more money abroad is more of a factor nowadays.<\/p>\n

Putting personalities to one side, it would have taken a lot more discontent to persuade Richie McCaw<\/a> or Kieran Read<\/a> to jump ship than Savea, and we all know New Zealand\u2019s problems run a lot deeper than who the head coach is.<\/p>\n

The erosion of the aura around the All Blacks began long before Robertson took the reins, Super Rugby isn\u2019t preparing players for the Test arena like it once did, participation numbers are down, and other countries have simply caught up.<\/p>\n

New Zealand are still a very good rugby team, but, regardless of who their head coach is, it\u2019s tough to see them returning to the days of winning over 85% of their Tests over a 10 or 20-year period as they did just after the turn of the millennium.<\/p>\n

Savea may now stay in New Zealand, but there will be others who choose to go anyway. A lot of people have quickly forgotten that Richie Mo\u2019unga is actually younger than Savea and has opted for the cash on offer in Japan<\/a> over international rugby for the last two years.<\/p>\n

Robertson\u2019s assistant coaches have been an issue with Leon MacDonald<\/a> and Jason Holland having left, and a lot of heat is on Scott Hansen at the moment. I\u2019ve no doubt he\u2019s made some mistakes, but he\u2019s an excellent coach, and there\u2019ll be a clamour for his signature now.<\/p>\n

Scotland<\/a> could be a potential destination, despite Gregor Townsend<\/a> having signed another new contract not so long ago, but there aren\u2019t too many obvious opportunities in international rugby, and there are a plethora of well-paid ones in the club game.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a vacancy at Harlequins, who have links to New Zealand Rugby. Leinster<\/a> might need someone if Jacques Nienaber chooses to return to South Africa. I\u2019d be straight on the phone if I were running Newcastle<\/a> Red Bulls<\/a> or Gloucester, and there\u2019ll be big money on offer in France.<\/p>\n

Jacky Lorenzetti will be interested in taking him to Racing 92, with Patrice Collazo the latest to not be pulling up any trees in the French capital. Clermont<\/a> might fancy sounding him out, too, and then there is the situation surrounding Ronan O\u2019Gara at La Rochelle.<\/p>\n

\"RonanLa Rochelle\u2019s Irish coach Ronan O\u2019Gara<\/a> looks on during the French Top14 rugby union match between Stade Toulousain Rugby (Toulouse) and Stade Rochelais (La Rochelle) at the Ernest-Wallon stadium in Toulouse, south-western France<\/a> on December 28, 2025. (Photo by Valentine CHAPUIS \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The All Blacks could do worse than look at the Irishman, as they are missing a trick not having any outside influences on the coaching staff, something we\u2019ve seen the Springboks do to great effect in recent times, and he was an assistant coach at the Crusaders, but it\u2019s never going to happen.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Gara may well look to move on to pastures new, regardless, though, after spending over six years on the Bay of Biscay, and the La Rochelle job would be tricky for Robertson, or anyone else for that matter, to turn down.<\/p>\n

As for his successor as All Blacks head coach, the names in the frame all appear to be Kiwis with some experience overseas, and Joe Schmidt and Dave Rennie would both be excellent choices, but Jamie Joseph<\/a> is the frontrunner.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Head-to-Head <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last 5 Meetings<\/p>\n

Average Points scored<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

His record with the Highlanders<\/a> isn\u2019t great at all, but he\u2019s been coaching the All Blacks XV, has earned massive respect for his work with Japan, and the fact that he might be able to tempt attack coach Tony Brown<\/a> back from the Springboks is a bonus.<\/p>\n

Whoever the new man is, they know they have arguably the toughest job in world rugby on their hands\u2026 maintain a win rate of over 80%, restore the aura, keep the players happy and presumably win a World Cup!<\/p>\n

Oh, and there\u2019s the small matter of a four-Test series away in South Africa on the horizon this year after the Nations Championship fixtures against France, Italy<\/a> and Ireland, so it isn\u2019t getting any easier.<\/p>\n

Robertson will get a big payout for mutually agreeing to depart, as well as landing a plum job elsewhere sometime soon, and he\u2019ll be gutted it hasn\u2019t worked out, but his departure says more about players and the state of rugby in New Zealand than it does about him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scott Robertson\u2019s shock departure as All Blacks head coach shows the fragility of modern-day coaching as well as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-416465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}