{"id":98575,"date":"2025-10-24T12:20:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T12:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/98575\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T12:20:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T12:20:12","slug":"hollands-departure-not-unexpected-to-scott-robertson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/98575\/","title":{"rendered":"Holland’s departure not unexpected to Scott Robertson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scott Robertson has reaffirmed that Jason Holland\u2019s decision to leave the All Blacks<\/a> is one made entirely on the assistant\u2019s own terms, but the call wasn\u2019t entirely unexpected.<\/p>\n

The All Blacks will commence their search for a new assistant coach following the Autumn Nations Series, with the role of backs and strike play coach to become available with Holland\u2019s impending departure.<\/p>\n

Robertson addressed the media in Auckland<\/a> on Thursday, saying there was no pressure from higher-ups at New Zealand<\/a> Rugby for changes to the coaching group, nor were there any attack KPIs that had not been met.<\/p>\n

Holland was labelled \u201ca really good coach and a good friend\u201d, with Robertson adding it will be hard to watch him leave the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cFull respect to Jason for the decision he\u2019s made,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cIt\u2019s a tough one, and he spoke with a lot of care to the group, and from the heart, and he said that it\u2019s his time and he\u2019ll finish strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to hear. What he said is from his heart, and he\u2019s made a decision, and we respect that.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the decision came as a surprise to fans, Robertson himself said he was aware that Holland\u2019s departure was on the cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes and no,\u201d was the coach\u2019s response when asked if the decision came as a surprise. \u201cHe\u2019s a pretty reflective guy, and we always connect along the way. You have a discussion and you think about what\u2019s best for you and your family.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe took a couple more days, and then he came back to me and said, \u2018This is the call that I\u2019m going to make\u2019, and you get on with it and you back him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coaching group decided that making the announcement before the team left for Chicago on Friday was the best timing, and would wait until after the coming tour to find Holland\u2019s replacement.<\/p>\n

Robertson said the news was too \u201cnew\u201d to look ahead to a new appointment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just been focusing on the Northern Tour, the grand slam, and what\u2019s ahead of us. So, we haven\u2019t gone down that track yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holland is the second attack coach to leave the team under Robertson, following Leon MacDonald<\/a>, who parted ways with the group just five games into his tenure. Robertson wasn\u2019t going to draw parallels between the two exits.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, you want the best for everyone, don\u2019t you? We\u2019re in a professional environment, in a team where performance is paramount. He\u2019s made a call on his coaching position; every circumstance is different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coach signed off by insisting the call would come as no distraction to the group, and the team will be eager to send Holland off on a high note.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no hesitation around the coaching side of it, we\u2019ll get on with the job. There\u2019s nothing around the performance side of it; it\u2019s just the decision that\u2019s been made.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an exciting month ahead of us, and it\u2019s a great way to send Alfie (Holland) off with some good performances.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scott Robertson has reaffirmed that Jason Holland\u2019s decision to leave the All Blacks is one made entirely on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-98575","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}