Jason Holland has opened up on his decision to quit his coaching role with the All Blacks and how he felt when Scott Robertson was fired as the men in black\u2019s head coach.<\/p>\n
Holland served as an All Blacks assistant coach in 2024 and 2025 under the guidance of former boss Robertson, who was axed from his position.<\/p>\n
Prior to Robertson\u2019s dismissal, Holland<\/a> concluded his involvement with the All Blacks<\/a> after opting not to extend his contract beyond last year\u2019s November internationals.<\/p>\n The 53-year-old, who previously worked as an assistant coach for the Hurricanes<\/a> from 2016 to 2019 and then head coach from 2020 to 2023, returned to his old club to work as one of current Hurricanes boss Clark Laidlaw\u2019s assistants.<\/p>\n Holland revealed in an interview with the What a Lad<\/a> podcast that although being part of the All Blacks coaching staff was \u201cawesome\u201d, he battled to adapt to the rigours of international coaching, especially during the early stages of that job.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat an opportunity. It was awesome. The All Blacks. So, my roles were in the strike stuff, pretty much. Initially with Rang (Leon MacDonald) and then with Scotty (Hansen),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u2018I don\u2019t feel I coached as well as I could in first six months\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like through nobody\u2019s fault but my own, I just feel like I just went away from a little of the couple of things that I enjoy and that I\u2019m good at, and nothing really obvious, but I just don\u2019t feel I coached as well as I could in that first six months.\u201d<\/p>\n The show\u2019s host, former Hurricanes and All Blacks sevens representative James Marshall asked Holland if it was difficult to adapt from being a head coach with the Wellington-based franchise to an assistant coach with New Zealand\u2019s senior national team and he replied: \u201cI don\u2019t think so. I think you just got to get excited about what your role is.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I didn\u2019t feel that. It\u2019s interesting, you\u2019ve got to make sure you\u2019re having fun with whatever you\u2019re doing and through my own fault, it\u2019s easy to go into a hotel room on a Thursday night and do that for five or six months on tour, you know?<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what we got good at for the second year in there is that we got better at switching off. Myself and Scotty and Tams (Tamati Ellison) especially when we\u2019d make sure we got out, we had a bit of fun and we just relaxed for a little bit.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think that\u2019s the most important because you\u2019re so determined to do well and you just work hard.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know what I mean? And then you maybe lose a little bit of the fun that you have in you and the ability to switch off.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s, all the stuff around how we went, I thought there was some really good performances. If we\u2019d beaten South Africa over there in that first year when we let that slip.<\/p>\n \u201cBut look, it is what it is and again, you reflect, but I got massive time for the boys that I coached with.\u201d<\/p>\n Ex-All Blacks coach reveals how the lessons learned at Test level is beneficial in similar role at the Hurricanes<\/a><\/p>\n Marshall said it sounded like he was trying too hard in his role and Holland agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can be. You\u2019re obviously going to work, we\u2019re talking to Scotty and Tams and Jase Ryan and Ray (Robertson), everyone works so hard that we are determined to do well,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bit that I\u2019ve talked about is, I\u2019ll be awesome tomorrow if I go and have a quiet beer with Scotty tonight. And I don\u2019t open the computer tonight.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a balance and if you ask my wife, it\u2019s all pretty shattered. But it is important to understand when you\u2019re going to be at your best.\u201d<\/p>\n After being in the All Blacks set-up for two international seasons, Holland decided to resign from his position \u2013 a decision which he admitted was far from easy.<\/p>\n \u201c(It was) Really tough. And it wasn\u2019t a massive blow-up. It\u2019s not as if we had massive blowers. It was just that, I just wanted to make sure that I knew how to enjoy myself and coach and be at my best.<\/p>\n \u2018It was a big call\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s probably more the way I approach things that I thought someone else is better off in this environment to make sure that I get myself in the space where I knew I could coach well. So, it was a big call.<\/p>\n \u201cBut sometimes when you get a bit older, as you say, you reflect, you figure out, \u2018Man, this is where I can have fun and be good\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n