All Blacks 2026
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Dave Rennie is off-contract in June. Cully states that NZR needs a Director of Rugby to oversee all NZ rep coaches.
- Rennie has 3-2 winning rate against Rassie Erasmus and ability to connect with players and staff.
- Coach didn’t contest job after Steve Hansen’s exit as overseas-based coaches lost faith in NZ Rugby.
- NZ Rugby unlikely to rush new appointment before start of Super Rugby.
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2026:
Dave Rennie is off-contract in June. Cully states that NZR needs a Director of Rugby to oversee all NZ rep coaches.
- Rennie has 3-2 winning rate against Rassie Erasmus and ability to connect with players and staff.
- Coach didn’t contest job after Steve Hansen’s exit as overseas-based coaches lost faith in NZ Rugby.
- NZ Rugby unlikely to rush new appointment before start of Super Rugby.
Previous rant and embarrassing amnesia aside, Rennie/Schmidt combo seems like the best option. Have decent SH and NH overseas experience but understand NZ rugby. Rennie’s Chiefs were probably one of the best super rugby sides in the past 15 years. They were brutal and played incredible attacking rugby. Plus he seems like he understands a good team culture and the training sessions were brutal. Kinda what this ABs teams needs rn
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2026:
Cully states that NZR needs a Director of Rugby to oversee all NZ rep coaches
agree with that, I think post 2015ish has been a real disconnect from top to bottom with NZR's gaze on grass roots and NPC lessening each year.
Despite the article posted by @MiketheSnow that has Eddie talking about a talent issue, which I think is incorrect, we still have the talent, our pathways to develop and nurture them is fractured, and some key skills seem to be lacking as well.
I think for a period, NZR needs to adopt a broader 'one way same way' type methodology to upskill in certain areas (kicking and game management are the 2 main issues for me)
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@mohikamo said in All Blacks 2026:
they probably already knew what they were guna do at this point
I still strongly disagree with this. All the review and discussions with players did was provide information about issues to be resolved.
If Razor addressed those issues effectively and articulated a credible plan to improve he'd still have a job. I think what you're seeing is proper governance at NZR for the first time in a long time. That will be Kirk. He's not going to let the board muck around with tough decisions. I really hope he'll soon get a plan in place for making Super and NPC relevant in their own ways - and rebuilding a southern hemisphere alliance to rebuild domination.
Remember in 2015 the SH dominated RWC. All four sides in the semis were SH teams. NH went away and got better - now we have to do the same. We've gone backwards relative to the north and it needs a reset. We can absolutely do this, but it needs good leadership
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@nzzp said in All Blacks 2026:
@mohikamo said in All Blacks 2026:
they probably already knew what they were guna do at this point
I still strongly disagree with this. All the review and discussions with players did was provide information about issues to be resolved.
If Razor addressed those issues effectively and articulated a credible plan to improve he'd still have a job. I think what you're seeing is proper governance at NZR for the first time in a long time. That will be Kirk. He's not going to let the board muck around with tough decisions. I really hope he'll soon get a plan in place for making Super and NPC relevant in their own ways - and rebuilding a southern hemisphere alliance to rebuild domination.
Remember in 2015 the SH dominated RWC. All four sides in the semis were SH teams. NH went away and got better - now we have to do the same. We've gone backwards relative to the north and it needs a reset. We can absolutely do this, but it needs good leadership
Due to the South Africans leaving SR I think it might be helpful to pivot away from thinking in terms of SH and NH in terms of alignments and think in terms of European and Pacific.
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@nzzp said in All Blacks 2026:
Remember in 2015 the SH dominated RWC. All four sides in the semis were SH teams. NH went away and got better
I think the perception of post 2019 NH success is overstated:
- 3 of 8 semi finalists
- 1 of 4 finalists
- 0 of 2 winners
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I would be surprised if the Board's discussion of Robertson's future didn't include at least a short discussion of potential replacements at some point in the meeting.
Not to say that the Board had a cunning plan to replace him with someone in particular lined up, but can see them at least considering whether they had some decent potential candidates available.
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@booboo said in All Blacks 2026:
@nzzp said in All Blacks 2026:
Remember in 2015 the SH dominated RWC. All four sides in the semis were SH teams. NH went away and got better
I think the perception of post 2019 NH success is overstated:
- 3 of 8 semi finalists
- 1 of 4 finalists
- 0 of 2 winners
I think they got a bit better. Gemini says (it's short, don't panic) and it must be correct as it supports my view
Period 1: 2007 – 2015
Top 10 Balance: Typically 4 SH (NZ, SA, AUS, ARG) vs. 6 NH (ENG, FRA, IRE, WAL, SCO, ITA).Rank #1 Occupancy: Almost exclusively SH. Between 2007 and 2015, the #1 spot was held by New Zealand and South Africa for 99% of the time.
NH Peak: England and Ireland occasionally touched the top 3 but rarely threatened the #1 spot.
Period 2: 2015 – 2023
Top 10 Balance: Balanced at 5 SH (NZ, SA, AUS, ARG, FIJ) vs. 5 NH (IRE, FRA, ENG, SCO, WAL) toward the end of 2023.Rank #1 Occupancy: A major shift occurred. Ireland, France, and Wales all reached #1 during this cycle.
The "Gap" Closing: While SH teams (specifically South Africa and New Zealand) still win the World Cups, NH teams like Ireland and France entered the 2023 RWC as the statistically superior teams based on win percentages in the 4-year cycle.
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@Godder I expect they also needed to weigh up the risk of retaining a struggling Razor vs putting a new coaching team in that may not be the best either given existing contracts and being mid RWC cycle that seems to dictate so much.
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@booboo said in All Blacks 2026:
@nzzp i acknowledge they got better. But I tend to think we overrate their improvement.
Its essentially ireland was the big mover. Scotland imported players snd improved. France England roughly the same and up and down.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2026:
@Godder I expect they also needed to weigh up the risk of retaining a struggling Razor vs putting a new coaching team in that may not be the best either given existing contracts and being mid RWC cycle that seems to dictate so much.
I think Razor was struggling a huge amount and it became pretty obvious.
NZR needs to take a lot of the blame for thinking Razor can just carry on being razor and win.
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@DaGrubster Robinson dropped the ball on a lot of stuff.
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John Mitchell's current contract with the RFU at coach the England women runs out at the end of June 2026.
He's expressed an interest in leading the British and Irish women's Lions tour to NZ, but I suspect that might change if he thought he could return as All Blacks coach.
And Joe Schmidt's contract runs out in June as well.
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@sparky said in All Blacks 2026:
John Mitchell's current contract with the RFU at coach the England women runs out at the end of June 2026.
He's expressed an interest in leading the British and Irish women's Lions tour to NZ, but I suspect that might change if he thought he could return as All Blacks coach.
And Joe Schmidt's contract runs out in June as well.
Joe Schmidt's contract includes the July Tests, no?
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Mitch could be good with the right people around him and have an interpreter from him to the players and him and the media...
