{"id":206773,"date":"2025-12-29T13:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T13:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/206773\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T13:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T13:58:12","slug":"have-new-zealand-rugby-been-too-insular","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/206773\/","title":{"rendered":"Have New Zealand Rugby been too insular?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pop quiz. Who was South Africa\u2019s last scrum-half before the \u2018Rassie Revolution\u2019 in South Africa<\/a> took root? If you answered \u2018Ross Cronje\u2019, award yourself a gold star. By 2018 Cronje had disappeared back into the rugby bush to be replaced by Faf de Klerk<\/a> for the England<\/a> tour in July. The blond firecracker was pivotal to South Africa\u2019s World Cup victory one year later, but at the time he was plying his trade with the Sale Sharks<\/a> in England\u2019s Premiership and it was a case of \u2018out of sight, out of mind\u2019.<\/p>\n

No major rugby nation has undergone more positive changes than South Africa since Erasmus took the national game by the scruff, and the first part of his plan was to open the door for the selection of South African players of national interest playing overseas.<\/p>\n

Wind the clock on to 2021, and the Springboks took another huge stride forward with the strategic decision to withdraw all four major professional franchises from Super Rugby and realign them with northern hemisphere competitions, which represented around two thirds of rugby\u2019s global commercial value at the time. There were R90m [\u00a34m] in travel savings right off the bat, a happy congruence of kick-off times and the long-term potential for South Africa to join the Six Nations.<\/p>\n

\"RassieRassie Erasmus<\/a> has transformed South African rugby (Photo by PA)<\/p>\n

By 2025 Erasmus had grown a fully cosmopolitan coaching group around him, which included two Irishmen [Felix Jones and Jerry Flannery] a couple of Welshmen [2019 head of athletic performance Aled Walters and more recently, ex-Saracens<\/a> strength & conditioning coach Andy Edwards] and a Kiwi attack coach in Tony Brown.<\/p>\n

While South Africa has thrown open its doors and issued an unprecedented welcome to the world outside the country, Australia<\/a> and New Zealand<\/a> have remained largely self-contained, and stayed within their traditional boundaries. Crisis might be too strong a word for it, but there is a problem with the acceptance and integration of overseas rugby IP into the Australasian game.<\/p>\n

It is obvious to high-profile coaches from both nations watching their homeland from a new orbit. When current Bristol<\/a> head coach, and ex-Auckland<\/a> and Samoa<\/a> number eight forward Pat Lam<\/a> took a long retrospective at his old country on Martin Devlin\u2019s DSPN podcast recently, he was looking back with a great deal of common sense, and just a smidgeon of incredulity and anger.<\/p>\n

The Bears supremo began by taking a swipe at New Zealand\u2019s policy of asking every head coaching candidate to nominate their coaching teams at the interview stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was part of it in 2007 when\u00a0Robbie Deans\u00a0rang me out of the blue and asked me if I could go be his assistant coach for the All Blacks<\/a>. Wow. He needed to put his name into the hat.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I\u2019ve never coached with Robbie Deans. I mean, it\u2019s crazy. He\u2019s going for the All Blacks job, and he\u2019s asking me. But the reason he was doing it was that New Zealand Rugby wants to know what your coaching team will be before they pick it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when Jamie [Joseph] and Razor went for it [in the 2023 World Cup year], they decided Razor is the best coach, but they still made them do the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The upshot of an \u2018archaic\u2019 process was that Brown went with JJ and was therefore excluded from Razor\u2019s coaching panel. Now he works with Rassie and the Springboks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best attacking coach is\u00a0Tony Brown, 100 per cent,\u201d Lam continued. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it. And naturally, Tony went with Jamie, but Tony\u2019s also good mates with Razor. The New Zealand Rugby Union, what they should have done is choose who they believe is going to be the best to lead \u2013 Razor.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, off the back of it, who do you think is the best defence coach? Well, let\u2019s interview and find out. Who\u2019s the best attack coach, from not just everyone in New Zealand, but everyone around the world?<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, Rassie saw it. Bang! Let\u2019s get Tony Brown<\/a>, put a four-year deal in front of him. And New Zealand Rugby didn\u2019t talk to Tony Brown.<\/p>\n

\"ScottPat Lam has bemoaned the loss of Tony Brown<\/a> to the Springboks coaching ticket (Photo by Hannah Peters\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the worst thing that [could have] happened for New Zealand, [and] the best thing for South Africa. I know a lot of the South African boys, and they\u2019re impressive men, all they needed was to play a bit more expansive rugby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said if the South Africans ever get upskilled to play a game outside the big bosh, which they\u2019re good at, watch out. And Tony Brown, the Kiwi, All Black, has gone in there, and he\u2019s doing a brilliant job for them. You can just see it, you\u2019re watching them: \u2018That\u2019s Tony Brown\u2019. And you know what he\u2019s teaching them.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the latest extension of Brown\u2019s deal with South Africa until 2031, the Otago<\/a> man\u2019s IP will be firmly out of bounds to New Zealand for another six years at least. Lam\u2019s conclusion about the state of New Zealand rugby?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey missed out because of their behaviour. They still believe they are the best in the world, rather than making any changes to some of their behaviours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proof is in the pudding. If they cannot get Brown, will New Zealand rugby scour the globe for the best man to inform and run their attacking shapes, and in particular will they consider a Ronan O\u2019Gara for the job? The Munsterman worked with Robertson at the Crusaders<\/a> for two seasons in 2018 and 2019, and the relationship was mutually beneficial and exponential in its impacts.<\/p>\n

Robertson taught O\u2019Gara the value of positivity and the maintenance of connections within a \u2018beehive\u2019 environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my mindset was turned inside-out going to the Crusaders, just the way they think about things and how real positivity and real buy-in from a lot of people can enhance an environment,\u201d O\u2019Gara reflected. \u201cI didn\u2019t really believe how valuable connections are. And that\u2019s where he [Robertson] excels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe environment gives you the tools to get the best out of players with the personality profiling, with how to speak to players, with the pre-meetings, with a lot of strings to the bow before you even approach a topic.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Gara even recalled the moment the lightbulb lit up during a 2018 game against the Hurricanes. \u201cI can remember exactly where I was standing on the pitch [when I realised] my past was influencing my thought process.\u201d<\/p>\n

By way of payback, O\u2019Gara introduced the Crusaders to the novelty and the intricacies of a true northern hemisphere line-speed defence, looking to penetrate gaps and hunt the ball rather than mark men. The pennies began to drop from Razor\u2019s eyes and O\u2019Gara\u2019s methods provided a bedrock for the All Blacks\u2019 improvement on D in the quarter-final of the 2023 World Cup against, of all people, his native Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really challenged me,\u201d said Robertson. \u201c[It was] totally different from what Wayne Smith built the foundations of the Crusaders on.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Zealand Rugby should be straining mightily to attract a coach of O\u2019Gara\u2019s calibre. With his background in Canterbury<\/a> and an established relationship with the All Blacks supremo, he could bring his northern IP to bear with devastating results.<\/p>\n

As ex-Crusaders and New Zealand full-back Israel<\/a> Dagg commented on his Sport Nation NZ radio show: \u201cIf there\u2019s someone out there, it\u2019s potentially Ronan O\u2019Gara. Razor has got a great relationship with him, I\u2019ve been coached by him, he\u2019s an awesome coach \u2013 I absolutely loved my time with Ronan.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no better man to coach a sophisticated international attack than an ex-number 10 with 130 Test caps and a background as a defence coach. The All Blacks could certainly do with O\u2019Gara\u2019s expertise. In the key November match against England, they started with a hiss and a roar and led 12-0 after only 18 minutes, but could only manage a paltry seven points in the remaining 62 minutes.<\/p>\n

Some of the situations which looked to be inviting an acceleration of attacking tempo with the attack sitting right on top of the defence, did just the opposite.<\/p>\n

After a line-break:<\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/JYurIjr7wq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cam Roigard picks up the loose ball and breaks upfield, but instead of hustling to the line for the next phase of attack, Beauden Barrett<\/a> sits deep for a chip kick to a pod of forwards alongside him, with the only other back in the vicinity [Quinn Tupaea] looking away from the ball. It never looks likely to work.<\/p>\n

After a tapped penalty:<\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/7c631QdRu0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If the All Blacks choose to tap a penalty in the England half instead of kicking to touch for the lineout throw, they must have a special move in mind, right? Wrong. After two one-out runs by the forwards Barrett is back in the pocket, kicking the pill away without the certain knowledge New Zealand will get it back on the next play.<\/p>\n

After a turnover with the fate of the game on the line, the All Blacks would surely be able to conjure some magic, wouldn\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/qADHKtBZ6p<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/ZZJZNVjX8Z<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

When Damian McKenzie<\/a> finally connects with another back, Will Jordan<\/a> is receiving the ball so far behind him that he can barely make it back to the ad-line. It goes from bad to worse in the second clip, with the ball out of the forward pod in front never even finding the full-back before Henry Pollock<\/a> pounces and Tom Roebuck<\/a> converts the turnover ball for England\u2019s game-winning score.<\/p>\n

With Jason Holland set to depart the national coaching staff, you have to wonder just how far the All Black net will be cast in the search to land a replacement. Will the trawl for talent take New Zealand Rugby on a voyage around Europe? Will it drop anchor at the Vieux Port in La Rochelle?<\/p>\n

If it doesn\u2019t, it ought to. O\u2019Gara only has a couple of years left on his contract in France<\/a> and was airing his desire to coach at international level as recently as this time last year: \u201cThere are Test jobs I\u2019d bite people\u2019s hands off for\u2026 I just want players to try and experience what I did. I got so much out of the game. It gave me wonderful emotions and now I want to really try and give back. I care a lot as a coach. I cared a lot as a player. It\u2019s probably my greatest attribute. I spent two good seasons with Razor and was transformed by him. I see the good in people now and the possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

If that doesn\u2019t motivate the All Blacks to reel him in, nothing will.<\/p>\n