Did anyone see the news about Mike Anthony, the head of high performance, quitting to go to a performance role in the English Premier League?
This thickens the plot even further as it was Anthony who had been tasked with carrying out the review of Robertson’s 2025 AB campaign.
Did the board find fault with his report? Anthony worked with Robertson at the Crusaders. Perhaps Kirk and the board rejected his review as a whitewash?
I think Razor and his crew are gone. Yes, the AB performances were underwhelming. But the real reason to clear out the coaches are the multiplying signs of real dysfunction in the coaching and management and selection set-up.
That dysfunction began almost as soon as Razor was appointed when Leon MacDonald walked out. Then you had Jason Holland getting out of his contract earlier with little explanation.
You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to see this is not a happy camp and that the problems are unlikely to get better without radical action.
Knowing David Kirk, he’s not one to linger in ripping off the plaster if it needs to be done. They could muddle through for another year under some stitched-up compromise, but does anyone seriously believe this will get any better?
The disastrous Mark Robinson era is over at the NZR. Razor’s appointment was symptomatic of that era, in which PR spin, image management and careerist politicking took precedence over substance and results.
The only real argument I can see against doing the deed now is that a new CEO has yet to be appointed. (Honestly, the management of NZ Rugby is a shambles.)
For now, though, a hard-headed, cool-eyed assessment of the past two years of drift and endless experimentation would suggest Razor will be packing his bags next week.