All Blacks 2026
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Whoever comes in and takes over has to lay down the law right from the jump if he wants any chance of success. I agree that man management matters the most. These guys know how to play, otherwise they wouldn't be there. But managing the egos and strong personalities is an underappreciated skill. Just ask Phil Jackson
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@SouthernMann said in All Blacks 2026:
@junior said in All Blacks 2026:
@SouthernMann said in All Blacks 2026:
it is clear the clique culture got a bit toxic and wasn't conducive to a high performance environment
Yeah, and that's probably the real story as far as Kirk is concerned. The so-called culture coach allowed this toxic culture to fester - or could do nothing to stop it.
Yeah, it simply doesn't matter who the antagonist is. If it was any one of the problems that have been listed over the last weekish, it could be fixable. Not the several ones that are being publicly litigated through leaks and Chinese whispers. It is just amazing how bad Razor had it become within two years.
When thinking of these types of roles, properly coaching can end up playing second fiddle to man management. Don't have good buy-in doesn't matter what your playbook is. The goose is cooked.
The major difference Razor would have had between the Crusaders and the ABs is Team Razor was ingrained into his Crusaders boys. If they weren't in, it would have been identified at a reasonably young age. Instead of with the ABs having guys who didn't align with his systems/processes. Who you simply couldn't say piss off to.
That's an interesting way of looking at it. I can see it too, as it reminds me of a very successful part of an organization I know well that cannot bring in new people, as to them it is a completely toxic environment where you have to drink the coolaid to get a go.
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@SouthernMann said in All Blacks 2026:
The major difference Razor would have had between the Crusaders and the ABs is Team Razor was ingrained into his Crusaders boys. If they weren't in, it would have been identified at a reasonably young age. Instead of with the ABs having guys who didn't align with his systems/processes. Who you simply couldn't say piss off to.
If you compare when Razor came into the Crusaders as coach to when he came into the ABs it's two very different scenarios
When Razor came into the Crusaders as coach they had come off a relatively lean period of success (by Crusaders standards), some of the old players had left (McCaw, Carter) and he himself was part of the foundational Crusaders successful era as a player (late 90s/early 00s). The Crusaders hadn't won a title for 8 or so seasons whereas he was part of multiple title winning teams, including a 3 peat. He could harken back to the Crusaders culture that he was part of. This is on addition to his exploits as Canterbury NPC coach.
Whereas he comes into the ABs. He has no test experience. He has a number of players with a lot of test experience. Whilst Razor was an AB he played during frankly an awful era of modern AB rugby ("hey guys I was in the ABs during the era we lost the Bledisloe then couldn't get it back"). He is also following a head coach who was seemingly very well loved by his players (in Fozzie) and quite an awkward way Razor got the job (start of the world cup year, he basically had a weak NZR over a barrell). Throw in that i'm sure there was some resentment from non Crusader ABs over his success and cult like status (breakdancing etc).
In hindsight if I was Razor I would have spent the 6 months post RWC 2023 doing everything I could to try and break down barriers and misconceptions about being the Crusaders coach as opposed to being coach of the whole country
However, I think even attempts to do this would have been very challenging as frankly he comes across as an awkward communicator (at best). I struggle to think of a long time successful coach who came across worse in press conferences than Razor. I understand press conferences aren't the be all and end all and are different to coaching but he REALLY struggled to articulate himself. I found him an absolute punishing listen to be honest and it was painful to watch after a while. I am usually really interested to hear from the horses mouth what AB coaches but not Razor. Listening to him made me lose confidence if i'm honest .
Of course the above is an over simplification but based on all of the above it's not surprising if the team developed factions and struggled to "buy-in" to the Razor regime.
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@Dan54 why would I care about Ardie. REDACTED Everyone knew about that. Oops more rumours.
Isn’t that what a forum is about. -
@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:
@junior said in All Blacks 2026:
have heard some things myself about that
Yeah funnily enough I've just heard another (years ago though).
Don't hold out on us ( or you can PM me hun xx )
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Without mentioning the content of alleged rumour/gossip I find it strange a VC and sometimes captain would be told off for something serious but was not punished (stripped of vice captaincy) and it was not leaked more widely. Aaron Smith never had it so lucky.
And if we probe too much regards a supposed Cantab club versus outsider/other clique that won't help the ABs.
Rumours may have sunk Ewen McKenzie (although that could well have been a peripheral media beatup). But they don't help the team moving forward.
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@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2026:
I haven’t read the last week or so posts. But this is what I’ve heard. Still rumours but from a very reliable source.
I don’t think the Dalton rumours are true.
Ardie is the main instigator behind all of it.
Not sure if it’s well known in the hurricanes area. But ardie likes to play around. Something happened on tour somewhere and razor found out. He gave him a right serve and Ardie took offence to it and it all started from there. Ardie only hangs with who ardie wants to hang with. Kava session in his room and no outsiders. They were all told to give bad reviews etc and that’s how it all started.
How it led to the sacking I don’t know.
Again just rumours and may not be true.Wow, if those rumours have any truth to them, it really does ram home just what an absolute shit show things had become under Razor. This shit sounds like what you'd expect from an amateur team, not one of the most successful professional sporting teams of all time. Must have been a very straight forward decision to move Razor on, the ABs are absolutely crying out for someone like Cotter to take control and get them all working towards a common goal. Honestly this just paints an even worse picture of Razor's ability as a head coach IMO.
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@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2026:
I haven’t read the last week or so posts. But this is what I’ve heard. Still rumours but from a very reliable source.
I don’t think the Dalton rumours are true.
Ardie is the main instigator behind all of it.
Not sure if it’s well known in the hurricanes area. But ardie likes to play around. Something happened on tour somewhere and razor found out. He gave him a right serve and Ardie took offence to it and it all started from there. Ardie only hangs with who ardie wants to hang with. Kava session in his room and no outsiders. They were all told to give bad reviews etc and that’s how it all started.
How it led to the sacking I don’t know.
Again just rumours and may not be true.Not saying this isn't true, but this is the LEAST believable take I have read.
It just reads so childishly simplistic.
I call bullshit.
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@booboo said in All Blacks 2026:
@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2026:
I haven’t read the last week or so posts. But this is what I’ve heard. Still rumours but from a very reliable source.
I don’t think the Dalton rumours are true.
Ardie is the main instigator behind all of it.
Not sure if it’s well known in the hurricanes area. But ardie likes to play around. Something happened on tour somewhere and razor found out. He gave him a right serve and Ardie took offence to it and it all started from there. Ardie only hangs with who ardie wants to hang with. Kava session in his room and no outsiders. They were all told to give bad reviews etc and that’s how it all started.
How it led to the sacking I don’t know.
Again just rumours and may not be true.Not saying this isn't true, but this is the LEAST believable take I have read.
It just reads so childishly simplistic.
I call bullshit.
Sounds like bullshit but still a good excuse to drain the swamp!
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@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2026:
They were all told to give bad reviews etc and that’s how it all started.
If that's the case, NZR will know exactly those who "were all told" are, because they did the reviews.
And if the toxic shit is true; one or two players maybe made an example of, and never be seen in black again.
Contract not renewed.As for the fidelity stuff; I may look at that a little differently to most.
God was LOL when he made humans the horniest animals on the planet. And he is probably still LOL when he looks down and sees what the umans are gittin up to.
So I dont give an F about that shit. -
@mohikamo said in All Blacks 2026:
@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2026:
They were all told to give bad reviews etc and that’s how it all started.
If that's the case, NZR will know exactly those who "were all told" are, because they did the reviews.
And if the toxic shit is true; one or two players maybe made an example of, and never be seen in black again.
Contract not renewed.As for the fidelity stuff; I may look at that a little differently to most.
God was LOL when he made humans the horniest animals on the planet. And he is probably still LOL when he looks down and sees what the umans are gittin up to.
So I dont give an F about that shit.Well at least we know Ardie is posting here now.
"God told me to"
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@mohikamo said in All Blacks 2026:
God was LOL when he made humans the horniest animals on the planet.
I'm not a biologist but I'm not convinced by that statement.
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@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2026:
@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2026:
I haven’t read the last week or so posts. But this is what I’ve heard. Still rumours but from a very reliable source.
I don’t think the Dalton rumours are true.
Ardie is the main instigator behind all of it.
Not sure if it’s well known in the hurricanes area. But ardie likes to play around. Something happened on tour somewhere and razor found out. He gave him a right serve and Ardie took offence to it and it all started from there. Ardie only hangs with who ardie wants to hang with. Kava session in his room and no outsiders. They were all told to give bad reviews etc and that’s how it all started.
How it led to the sacking I don’t know.
Again just rumours and may not be true.Wow, if those rumours have any truth to them, it really does ram home just what an absolute shit show things had become under Razor. This shit sounds like what you'd expect from an amateur team, not one of the most successful professional sporting teams of all time. Must have been a very straight forward decision to move Razor on, the ABs are absolutely crying out for someone like Cotter to take control and get them all working towards a common goal. Honestly this just paints an even worse picture of Razor's ability as a head coach IMO.
Surely the easier decision was to de-select Ardie
Oh and Wales says hold my beer
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2026:
@mohikamo said in All Blacks 2026:
God was LOL when he made humans the horniest animals on the planet.
I'm not a biologist but I'm not convinced by that statement.
Bonobo
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@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks 2026:
Bonobo
Nope, I reckon we got them covered. -
@mohikamo said in All Blacks 2026:
@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks 2026:
Bonobo
Nope, I reckon we got them covered.Only god nose
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kiwidom said in All Blacks 2026:
Fourth test vs South Africa confirmed for Baltimore, Maryland in the USA on September 12th
So it effectively becomes a 3 test series with a 4th exhibition test tacked on
Has it been confirmed it is a 3 test series or is it a 4 test series (including Us game?)
