All Blacks forward Patrick Tuipulotu admitted that he was surprised by the \u201ccut-throat\u201d nature of Scott Robertson\u2019s axing by New Zealand Rugby.<\/p>\n
The governing body took the decision to remove the head coach midway through his four-year deal, with Jamie Joseph and Dave Rennie the favourites to replace him.<\/p>\n
Although the All Blacks<\/a> endured a mixed couple of years under Robertson<\/a>, he still achieved a 74 per cent win rate, which was more than his predecessor, Ian Foster, who saw out his contract and reached the Rugby World Cup final.<\/p>\n NZR\u2019s big call<\/p>\n \u201cInteresting times,\u201d Tuipulotu said when asked about the current situation and NZ Rugby\u2019s decision. \u201cIt just shows the nature of high-performance sport. I was quite shocked at how cut-throat it is.<\/p>\n \u201cIn saying that, they\u2019ve explained the process has been going on since he started, and there\u2019s been a review along the way.<\/p>\n \u201cInteresting to see how things pan out now with coaches and the timeframe heading into the Super season before the international games.\u201d<\/p>\n The All Blacks\u2019 next game is in July, but the governing body are looking to appoint a new head coach as soon as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cOn a personal level, I feel for Razor. He\u2019s a great man,\u201d Test centurion Codie Taylor said. \u201cI\u2019ve had a lot to do with him over the years. On that level it\u2019s sad to see something like that happen.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a high-performance environment, those decisions can be made. Where we are at now is a bit of uncertainty but I know New Zealand Rugby is doing their best to collate everything together and make a decision pretty quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve heard good things about the potential candidates. Whoever gets it, I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll do their best.\u201d<\/p>\n