Ex-All Black Israel Dagg has added fuel to speculation that a fall out with assistant coach Scott Hansen is the reason that Jason Holland has departed the All Blacks coaching set up.
This week Holland announced his impending departure after the All Blacks end of year tour, becoming the second assistant to leave Scott Robertson’s coaching group after Leon MacDonald.
Speaking on the Scotty and Izzy Show on Sport Nation NZ, Dagg addressed the messages that pundits were sending in, including speculation that Hansen was behind the departures after the group couldn’t cohesively work together.
All Black coach Scott Robertson and his captain Scott Barrett give their views on the ‘greatest rivalry’ tour of 2026
All Black coach Scott Robertson and his captain Scott Barrett give their views on the ‘greatest rivalry’ tour of 2026
“There could be a lot of speculation out there. There’s one message here talking about some rumours that Scott Hansen is the problem with Holland and Leon MacDonald,” he said.
“That they couldn’t work with him anymore and Holland wanted to leave last year but was convinced to stay for one more year.”
Both MacDonald and Holland gave up head coaching roles at the Blues and the Hurricanes respectively to join the All Blacks coaching staff, while Hansen was an assistant under Robertson at the Crusaders.
Former Test fullback Dagg described Hansen as “very intense” who demands the best of people.
“I’ve never been coached by Scotty Hansen, I can’t speak from experience, but having spoken to him a couple of times, he’s very intense,” he said.
“A very intense fella, very passionate, has a lot of care but is hard on people and wants to get the very best out of people – he’s demanding.”
Robertson started his tenure with an army of lieutenants on his coaching staff, yet MacDonald was never replaced and it is yet to be seen whether Holland will be.
Dagg added that perhaps there were too many voices in the room with a large backroom staff that led to communication issues.
“Next year, what is the key here? There’s a lot of confusion out there, there are so many voices, so would the best thing going forward be to take away that extra voice, allow Scotty Hansen to take a bit more of a role, which he potentially has been already doing, and Tamati Ellison looks after the defence.”