Scott Robertson
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@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
The more stories that come out about Scott Robertson, the more baffling it is he made it so far and had so much lower-level success. It feels increasingly like he benefited from a perfect storm of advantages - structures, players, timing - rather than coaching ability.
Crusaders structure certainly helped. But there's no question the players loved playing for him and responded to the themed campaigns.
I think he changed too much when he went up a level and lost the support that got Penney a Super title last year. And then the wheels fell off
@nzzp said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
The more stories that come out about Scott Robertson, the more baffling it is he made it so far and had so much lower-level success. It feels increasingly like he benefited from a perfect storm of advantages - structures, players, timing - rather than coaching ability.
Crusaders structure certainly helped. But there's no question the players loved playing for him and responded to the themed campaigns.
I think he changed too much when he went up a level and lost the support that got Penney a Super title last year. And then the wheels fell off
Yeah, if you take that article as gospel it seems very much that he changed what he had been doing, and you'd have to assume that's due to the pressure he felt. There's a few indicators of that I think: "I'm the boss, go talk to the middle manager" stuff , he said himself he had been too risk averse in 2024 - but then proceeded to be even more so in 2025
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
@reprobate given what you read of Ardie under Foster it makes you wonder if under Razor he saw the mess and tried to take things on himself in terms of coaching/mentoring younger players?
I also think under the right coach and game.plan, Ardie still has alot to offer, but last year there was such a huge lack of direction or accountability for pretty much anything, although you do wonder where self respect of your own standards fits in when you look at the 2nd half v the Boks.
Quite possibly eh, but going about that the wrong way can be undermining too.
@reprobate yeah we will probably never know, maybe he (and others) tried to speak to Razor about it but was ignored or brushed off?
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@reprobate yeah we will probably never know, maybe he (and others) tried to speak to Razor about it but was ignored or brushed off?
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
@reprobate yeah we will probably never know, maybe he (and others) tried to speak to Razor about it but was ignored or brushed off?
One of the biggest things I learned is unless there's a shared view on the world you can't make changes. There's often discussion about whether there's even a problem, let alone how to start moving towards a solution. I have been told by people sometimes 'this is not a problem ', which works until reality intrudes
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@Tim said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
One source told the Herald that as time went on, they believed that some All Blacks team management “just lost all faith”. Those in the environment reflected on how they were under the impression that Razor was “the guru”, but actually didn’t see much or any of his coaching ability on display.
As an example, the source said, Robertson would play videos to the team to “gee everyone up” at meetings.
“He’d play the clip, and at the end of the clip, he’d go, ‘Everyone good? Cool, let’s go.’ You were not getting any inspirational speeches, you were not seeing any rugby IQ, any innovation.
Lol, wondering what videos he played to the team now.
@African-Monkey said in Scott Robertson:
Lol, wondering what videos he played to the team now.
A Dog's Show.
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So, depending on the coach, international rules, and NZR, is there a chance we could ever see Sotutu in black again?
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So, depending on the coach, international rules, and NZR, is there a chance we could ever see Sotutu in black again?
@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:
So, depending on the coach, international rules, and NZR, is there a chance we could ever see Sotutu in black again?
No, he's off to Newcastle.
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@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:
So, depending on the coach, international rules, and NZR, is there a chance we could ever see Sotutu in black again?
No, he's off to Newcastle.
@African-Monkey said in Scott Robertson:
@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:
So, depending on the coach, international rules, and NZR, is there a chance we could ever see Sotutu in black again?
No, he's off to Newcastle.
Yes I know, I mean in a few years. Seems to be sayonara though. He's only 27.
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Over-hyped and over-rated fraud. He must have known that he wasn't a very good coach and would be exposed hideously at the top level. The Emperor had no clothes. What an idiot!
No sympathy at all over his firing. Good riddance!
@sparky said in Scott Robertson:
Over-hyped and over-rated fraud. He must have known that he wasn't a very good coach and would be exposed hideously at the top level. The Emperor had no clothes. What an idiot!
No sympathy at all over his firing. Good riddance!
I don’t know. The success kept coming. In his mind, he probably thought he’d cracked the code. But it was all the other stuff around him.
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Blame the employers
If you're both ambitious and successful at a lower level it's human nature to want to perform at a higher level
And more importantly if you feel that you're ready you have to convince those employing you that it's your time
Razor did all those things
He wasn't quite ready
Or Super Rugby is his ceiling
Time will tell us which it is
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@zedsdeadbaby said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
Great backgrounder - I think it portrays Razor as sadly out of his depth - and perhaps at the end he realised it too.
These reports might cause some test nations to pause at the thought of signing Razor on as coach
@canefan said in Scott Robertson:
@zedsdeadbaby said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
Great backgrounder - I think it portrays Razor as sadly out of his depth - and perhaps at the end he realised it too.
These reports might cause some test nations to pause at the thought of signing Razor on as coach
Be a bit of a waste if that happened. Needs to start again away from NZ to get his mojo back. Coaching a smaller Union or as an assistant somewhere could be just what he needs.
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Razor's tenure reminds me a lot of Ewen McKenzie's with the Wallabies. McKenzie diverted away from what he'd done so well with the Reds which meant he lost the support of many of those Reds players. The rest then fell like dominos and then everything collapsed towards the end.
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The more stories that come out about Scott Robertson, the more baffling it is he made it so far and had so much lower-level success. It feels increasingly like he benefited from a perfect storm of advantages - structures, players, timing - rather than coaching ability.
@ShaquilleOatmeal said in Scott Robertson:
The more stories that come out about Scott Robertson, the more baffling it is he made it so far and had so much lower-level success. It feels increasingly like he benefited from a perfect storm of advantages - structures, players, timing - rather than coaching ability.
Think he also benefitted from being in a uni-environment (is that a word?) when he won his 7 SR titles in a row with the Crusaders. Defeat is a great tutor and he didn't have many of those.
Add in that he was a charismatic public figure, gave great presentations to NZR and you can see why NZR placed so much faith in him.
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Re-read the article and this struck me
"It is understood that Robertson was starting to feel like a scapegoat."
That's 100% down to NZR. Same thing happened to Foster and it's just corrosive.
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@canefan said in Scott Robertson:
@zedsdeadbaby said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
Great backgrounder - I think it portrays Razor as sadly out of his depth - and perhaps at the end he realised it too.
These reports might cause some test nations to pause at the thought of signing Razor on as coach
Be a bit of a waste if that happened. Needs to start again away from NZ to get his mojo back. Coaching a smaller Union or as an assistant somewhere could be just what he needs.
@Victor-Meldrew said in Scott Robertson:
@canefan said in Scott Robertson:
@zedsdeadbaby said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
Great backgrounder - I think it portrays Razor as sadly out of his depth - and perhaps at the end he realised it too.
These reports might cause some test nations to pause at the thought of signing Razor on as coach
Be a bit of a waste if that happened. Needs to start again away from NZ to get his mojo back. Coaching a smaller Union or as an assistant somewhere could be just what he needs.
Or an overseas club
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
@reprobate yeah we will probably never know, maybe he (and others) tried to speak to Razor about it but was ignored or brushed off?
One of the biggest things I learned is unless there's a shared view on the world you can't make changes. There's often discussion about whether there's even a problem, let alone how to start moving towards a solution. I have been told by people sometimes 'this is not a problem ', which works until reality intrudes
@nzzp said in Scott Robertson:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
@reprobate yeah we will probably never know, maybe he (and others) tried to speak to Razor about it but was ignored or brushed off?
One of the biggest things I learned is unless there's a shared view on the world you can't make changes. There's often discussion about whether there's even a problem, let alone how to start moving towards a solution. I have been told by people sometimes 'this is not a problem ', which works until reality intrudes
Yup. Agree and definie a problem and you're 80% there to solving it.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Scott Robertson:
@canefan said in Scott Robertson:
@zedsdeadbaby said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
Great backgrounder - I think it portrays Razor as sadly out of his depth - and perhaps at the end he realised it too.
These reports might cause some test nations to pause at the thought of signing Razor on as coach
Be a bit of a waste if that happened. Needs to start again away from NZ to get his mojo back. Coaching a smaller Union or as an assistant somewhere could be just what he needs.
Or an overseas club
@canefan said in Scott Robertson:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Scott Robertson:
@canefan said in Scott Robertson:
@zedsdeadbaby said in All Blacks - New Coach Selection:
Great backgrounder - I think it portrays Razor as sadly out of his depth - and perhaps at the end he realised it too.
These reports might cause some test nations to pause at the thought of signing Razor on as coach
Be a bit of a waste if that happened. Needs to start again away from NZ to get his mojo back. Coaching a smaller Union or as an assistant somewhere could be just what he needs.
Or an overseas club
Maybe, but I think he needs Test experience. Who knows, he may come back after 2027 and have the complete tool-bag.
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Over-hyped and over-rated fraud. He must have known that he wasn't a very good coach and would be exposed hideously at the top level. The Emperor had no clothes. What an idiot!
No sympathy at all over his firing. Good riddance!
@sparky said in Scott Robertson:
Over-hyped and over-rated fraud. He must have known that he wasn't a very good coach and would be exposed hideously at the top level. The Emperor had no clothes. What an idiot!
No sympathy at all over his firing. Good riddance!
Think that's unfair. He was clearly a coaching superstar who wanted to step up to the next level but just couldn't manage it. Not his fault he wanted the top job and thought he could do it.
NZR are the culprits here. Should have taken a cold, hard unemotional look rather than jumping on the "In Scott we trust" bandwagon. Their handling of both Foster and Robertson has been an object lesson in shithouse management.
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At least NZR haven't pulled a Starmer and said Razor lied to them

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@sparky said in Scott Robertson:
Over-hyped and over-rated fraud. He must have known that he wasn't a very good coach and would be exposed hideously at the top level. The Emperor had no clothes. What an idiot!
No sympathy at all over his firing. Good riddance!
Think that's unfair. He was clearly a coaching superstar who wanted to step up to the next level but just couldn't manage it. Not his fault he wanted the top job and thought he could do it.
NZR are the culprits here. Should have taken a cold, hard unemotional look rather than jumping on the "In Scott we trust" bandwagon. Their handling of both Foster and Robertson has been an object lesson in shithouse management.
@Victor-Meldrew said in Scott Robertson:
@sparky said in Scott Robertson:
Over-hyped and over-rated fraud. He must have known that he wasn't a very good coach and would be exposed hideously at the top level. The Emperor had no clothes. What an idiot!
No sympathy at all over his firing. Good riddance!
Think that's unfair. He was clearly a coaching superstar who wanted to step up to the next level but just couldn't manage it. Not his fault he wanted the top job and thought he could do it.
NZR are the culprits here. Should have taken a cold, hard unemotional look rather than jumping on the "In Scott we trust" bandwagon. Their handling of both Foster and Robertson has been an object lesson in shithouse management.
The weird part is that given how he performed in the job it's surprising that he would have wanted it in the first place.
He never really took any chances or risks in the job, does not appear to have been up to par in the man management stakes, does not really appear to have a clear vision of what he was trying to achieve..... What would have made him think he was up to the task?
He should have stayed in his comfort zone or been an assistant for the ABs where he might have been useful in adding a bit of fun and levity to the camp. It's all so very odd.