{"id":431682,"date":"2026-02-18T04:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T04:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/431682\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T04:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T04:48:10","slug":"how-would-josephs-brave-new-all-black-world-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/431682\/","title":{"rendered":"How would Joseph’s brave new All Black world look?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The \u2018worldwide trawl\u2019 for coaching talent has dwindled, and the contest for the top job in New Zealand<\/a> rugby has become what it probably always was: a two-horse race between ex-Japan<\/a> head coach Jamie Joseph<\/a> and ex-Chiefs<\/a> and Wallabies supremo Dave Rennie.<\/p>\n

Joseph must be the front-runner given his recent success coaching the New Zealand A side which toured Europe concurrently with \u2018Razor\u2019 Robertson\u2019s All Blacks<\/a>. Where Robertson\u2019s men faltered, Joseph\u2019s cruised through a three-match tour with three resounding wins against a Barbarians<\/a> side first up, followed by England<\/a> A and finishing with a victory over Uruguay<\/a> in the southwest of France.<\/p>\n

One week before Robertson\u2019s charges lost the full international against England at Twickenham, Joseph\u2019s team were beating England A<\/a> at the Rec in Bath<\/a> 31-14. That as much as anything did for Razor and made up NZR chair David Kirk\u2019s mind about the need for radical change.<\/p>\n

\"JamieJamie Joseph and Dave Rennie seem the two leading candidates for the All Blacks gig (Photos by Michael Bradley\/Getty Images and Harry Trump\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Some players in New Zealand will be happy with the change, and Blues<\/a> skipper Dalton Papali\u2019i will probably count among their number. The hybrid back-rower has earned 37 caps in total and formed a deadly partnership with Ardie Savea<\/a> under Ian Foster. But the flood of national recognition turned to a trickle before completely drying up under Robertson. With the ex-Crusaders<\/a> head coach in charge, the 28-year-old only played 15 minutes off the bench in 2025, at a time when he should have been approaching the zenith of his playing career.<\/p>\n

Papali\u2019i\u2019s recent comments to 1News implied a less-than-ringing endorsement in the well-publicised player review which finally torpedoed the good ship Robertson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was there when \u2018Shag\u2019 [Steve Hansen] and \u2018Fozzy\u2019 [Ian Foster] were there holding the helm,\u201d he said. \u201cSeeing it change to Razor\u2019s agenda, you could see there was a big difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople spoke up and they had to have a review\u2026 I don\u2019t really want to speak too much on that. What happened, happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

If popular opinion crowns men, Joseph would already be a king. It was he who rescued the Blues castaway and brought him back into fold, not only as his preferred number seven, but as a captain to boot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really had a good relationship with Jamie Jo and I felt like I was back to my old self,\u201d Papali\u2019i continued. \u201cI feel like I play better with the weight of being a leader. Going into the ABs XV, I got that role back again, the captaincy, and I took it with both hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed it and felt like I played well again. Everyone bought into the culture and it was a credit to Jamie Jo and the coaches. They set up the environment for everyone to be at their best and I loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DaltonDalton Papali\u2019i struggled for All Blacks game time under Scott Robertson<\/a> (Photo by Hagen Hopkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The preference for \u2018old school\u2019 methodology on Joseph\u2019s coaching menu is well-documented. The ex-Highlanders<\/a> number 10 Lima Sopoaga<\/a> recalls a time when after one unexpected pre-season loss, some of the backs were required to defend driving mauls from lineout run by a full-blown pack of South Island forwards. Even the gilt-edged \u2018Nugget\u2019, scrum-half Aaron Smith<\/a> had to get his hands, and his shorts, dirty in the process. There were to be no draft dodgers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt went on for 15 minutes,\u201d Sopaga told Nine Sport. \u201cImagine how well that went. It was honestly one of the worst days of my life. After he blew the whistle, I walked away and I just kept on walking. The field was massive. I walked for a kilometre down the road and I had tears in my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sopoaga went on to observe Joseph\u2019s ability to \u201cmax out\u201d the talent of the underdog players at his disposal, with Japan and the Highlanders alike. Innovation was the preserve of his long-time confederate Tony Brown<\/a>, who has stated publicly he will honour his contract with the Springboks up until the 2027 World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose two men are like Shaq and Kobe, Batman and Robin,\u201d Sopoaga enthused. \u201cIf he is to get the job, I\u2019m sure Jamie being Jamie, he\u2019s got a couple of tricks up his sleeve. If he can\u2019t get Tony, he\u2019ll have someone else. He\u2019ll have A, B, C, D, E, and F all in the back of his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Joseph gets the All Blacks gig, the real question mark will not be so much about his ability unify players, but whether he can find a partner in crime to supply the IP which keeps the Al Blacks ahead of the global game. O\u2019Neal never functioned quite so fluently without Bryant, nor the Caped Crusader without his sidekick.<\/p>\n

The first round of Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> suggested, left to his own devices, he may be more of a good listener than a keynote speaker, following an existing trail west rather than pioneering it.<\/p>\n

Why? The first two rounds of the Six Nations<\/a> averaged 39 minutes of ball-in-play time, and the Highlanders-Crusaders game mirrored it exactly. There has been an average of 188 rucks in Europe\u2019s premier international competition, and there were 184 in Dunedin. One round of play up north produced an average of 79 kicks per game, while the first match of SRP down south finished with 82. Joseph\u2019s Highlanders launched a massive 44 of those at home, under a glass dome impervious to the fluctuations of the weather outside it.<\/p>\n

If Joseph becomes coach of the national side, will he still be following trends set by the likes of France<\/a> and England? After two rounds of the current Six Nations, both have kicked an average of 35 times per game for a total of over 1000 metres. Those are big kicking figures indeed, but the early evidence suggests the Highlanders are looking not only to match them, but surpass them.<\/p>\n

On Sky Sport\u2019s The Breakdown, ex-All Blacks Stephen Donald<\/a> and Jeff Wilson<\/a> were left shaking their heads ruefully.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just not\u00a0New Zealand rugby,\u201d Wilson remarked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe finished a whole season last year, at the end of the year, talking about kicking the ball away and turning possession over.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then, in the very first game we saw 80 kicks. That\u2019s not New Zealand rugby. I\u2019m sorry, keeping the ball in hand\u00a0\u2013 you know, you can\u2019t play with fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause for me, the number of times, the moment it broke down, [both] teams were going to a box kick in the attacking half, not even in the defensive half, the exit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an attacking strategy. I just I don\u2019t accept that\u2019s in the best interest of our game, and given the skill-sets of our players.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Joseph is going to translate his methodology from provincial level to the Test match arena as head coach of New Zealand, there could be a bumpy media road ahead.<\/p>\n

The good news is there are a few individuals who could easily supply his needs. On the Crusaders side, scrum-half Noah Hotham<\/a> may already be the best box-kicking half-back in New Zealand. With Hotham launching the mortar \u2018bombs\u2019, the visitors had won back four of their contestable kicks, on both sides of the field, before play hit the half-hour mark. And their scrum-half knew exactly what to do with the turnover ball won.<\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/lB3PwZjH5V<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 William Bishop (@RPvids1994) February 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/C1KPNn1aAK<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 William Bishop (@RPvids1994) February 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

In both instances Hotham plays the short side for all it is worth after the box kick reclaim is made. He catches the Highlanders backfield in the middle of a regroup in the first clip and if his kick ahead stays infield, there will be an almost certain score in the second.<\/p>\n

On the other side of the field, Timoci Tavatavanawai<\/a> has exactly the kind of skill-set which will thrive in the brave new box-kicking world.<\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/Zid5LRaiO2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 William Bishop (@RPvids1994) February 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/tQhe4KyhjB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 William Bishop (@RPvids1994) February 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Big Jim\u2019, as he is known to his friends, is chasing from one spot inside the edge chaser in both clips. He started life as a power wing before moving in to first five-eighth. The big body gives him rock-like immovability over the tackle ball and the winger\u2019s aerial instincts allow him to catch it on the reclaim. It is rare and valuable combination.<\/p>\n

Add those abilities to the following break and offload and you have a Joseph gem on your hands.<\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/eX1ktdyRJv<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 William Bishop (@RPvids1994) February 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

It looks increasingly likely Joseph will be the man to succeed Robertson in NZR\u2019s brave new rugby world south of the equator. If he is appointed to the toughest gig on planet rugby, he will need a man to fill the boots of Brown alongside him. Could that man be Scott Hansen, who coached Japan as his main assistant between 2019 and 2022? Can he really roleplay Robin to Joseph\u2019s Batman? As the anti-hero Harvey Dent once put it in The Dark Knight, \u201cYou either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.\u201d<\/p>\n