{"id":418209,"date":"2026-01-17T02:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/418209\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T02:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:55:09","slug":"nzr-has-jumped-the-gun-on-razors-all-blacks-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/418209\/","title":{"rendered":"NZR has jumped the gun on Razor\u2019s All Blacks exit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sir Wayne Smith has delivered a frank response to Scott Robertson\u2019s departure from the All Blacks<\/a>, offering his honest views on the harsh realities of modern coaching.<\/p>\n

Smith has been operating in a Performance Coach role for New Zealand<\/a> Rugby throughout Robertson\u2019s tenure as All Blacks coach, overseeing and contributing to the leadership of both the All Blacks and the Black Ferns.<\/p>\n

Recognised as one of the great minds of the game, \u2018The Professor\u2019 expressed plenty of sympathy for Robertson and described his coaching unit as \u201cextremely competent\u201d, also acknowledging they were still finding their feet two years into the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough old gig when 76% isn\u2019t good enough. They obviously feel that the win percentage wasn\u2019t going to improve, although that is just guesswork,\u201d he said in a statement sent to 1News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe All Blacks\u2019 history demands high standards, a winning attitude and innovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaching in this environment is becoming more and more challenging. Egos abound, 76% win records are no longer enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most pointed part of the statement was when Smith spoke on the nature of season reviews and the player feedback involved. He also mentioned the harsh voices on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisaffected players speak behind your back and get to rubbish you, incognito, during end-of-campaign reviews,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial media, hidden behind nicknames and alter egos, can tear you apart without remorse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sir Wayne emphasised the need to balance the enduring expectations of the All Blacks to be the world\u2019s best with the patience needed to build the team up to that level of success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes time to settle on your way, and you just pray that you get the opportunity to prove yourself over time.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking into the future to determine where the game is going next is critical. Making changes before they are needed is key. Others will copy and force you to keep going ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public attention is quickly shifting to New Zealand Rugby\u2019s new hiring process, which began \u201cimmediately\u201d after Robertson\u2019s exit.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s leadership will no doubt be leaned on by whoever is named as Robertson\u2019s replacement, and while the now-ex-coach\u2019s assistants remain in place \u2013 and will lead the team through a camp on Sunday \u2013 the incoming coach will be free to select their own assistants when appointed.<\/p>\n

Sir Wayne\u2019s attention wouldn\u2019t search far beyond the week\u2019s bombshell announcement, though, with the former Rugby World Cup-winning Black Ferns coach clearly emotional about New Zealand Rugby\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, Razor hasn\u2019t been given more time, greater opportunity to adapt and overcome many of the challenges new All Blacks coaches face,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel sad about that \u2014 for Razor and our game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sir Wayne Smith has delivered a frank response to Scott Robertson\u2019s departure from the All Blacks, offering his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-418209","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\/418209","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=418209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}