All Blacks 2026
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@Fale009 said in All Blacks 2026:
@Bovidae This is when he lost me. Sticking with the same lineups after poor performances showed me he was only coaching to keep his job. Had enough of him by the time the grand slam tour rolled around. The fact that we're already halfway through this RWC cycle and still trotting out Beauden and DMac as the only options at 10 is diabolical.
What surprised me after all the hype , he appeared nervous and under the pump from the very beginning, it never really got going at all .
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@Duluth said in All Blacks 2026:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2026:
I think you have listed the most likely duos in the appropriate (descending) order for likelihood of selection
I would like all of them. Joseph (head coach), Brown, Cotter as the main coaches. Schmidt as a high performance manager who joins later working with SR sides and the ABs.
I agree. From far away a a year or two ago, it seemed to me that Japan's culture suited him as coach but I was worried that Joseph was too old school and inflexible (especially without Brown) but I think (and hope) I was wrong.
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@Duluth yeah I asked yesterday if JJ and Cotter together could be an option.
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Fuck, this Gregor Paul article is scathing.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2026:
@Duluth yeah I asked yesterday if JJ and Cotter together could be an option.
I quite like those Wayne Smith odds (as an advisor/mentor). How many times has he said emphatically no to any sort of international coaching and then had his arm tweaked?
Edit: and those Eddie Jones odds are frankly terrifying. -
@nostrildamus Vern Cotter gets things moving specifically the pack .
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@Tim said in All Blacks 2026:
O'Gara doesn't have any international experience, and he's tainted by association with Robertson. His past comments make him sound like a Crusaders loyalist. Not interested.
That's fair, though I do think he's a much more astute thinker than Razor (shit that's a low bar), and I did like how he sought out experience down here to get out of his bubble up north. If he's part of the above coaching group I can't see that being an issue but take your point!
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@george33 said in All Blacks 2026:
@nostrildamus Vern Cotter gets things moving specifically the pack .
Did a great job with the Blues forwards in 2024
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@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2026:
No need for us to repeat Australian mistakes by picking foreign coaches. Plenty of talent with NZ coaches that understand the players and the culture.
No issue with foreign assistants. Mick Byrne was excellent.
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@george33 said in All Blacks 2026:
@nostrildamus Vern Cotter gets things moving specifically the pack .
I'm a Blues supporter too! He needs a good backs coach though as assistant.
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I just read this on the reddit redo of the Gregor Paul article 'Gregor Paul: The day I knew Razor would be exiting the All Blacks':
"The Herald has been told that Mo’unga – one of the game’s most genuine and likeable characters – independently rang McKenzie and Barrett to assure them he was not agitating for either an early release from his Toshiba contract or a change in eligibility laws, and he was uncomfortable he was some kind of shadow narrative to the All Blacks’ season."Can anyone here confirm this?
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Thinking on it more, it'd be Brown OR O'Gara really, and that's a no brainer
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2026:
I just read this on the reddit redo of the Gregor Paul article 'Gregor Paul: The day I knew Razor would be exiting the All Blacks':
"The Herald has been told that Mo’unga – one of the game’s most genuine and likeable characters – independently rang McKenzie and Barrett to assure them he was not agitating for either an early release from his Toshiba contract or a change in eligibility laws, and he was uncomfortable he was some kind of shadow narrative to the All Blacks’ season."Can anyone here confirm this?
Casts RM more favourably if true
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If Tony Brown will and is actually able to join Joseph.....then Joseph will piss in as the coach. Depriving the Boks of him and getting a ton of Intel are extra bonuses.
I also think Rennie and Vern Cotter would be good if they can stomach being assistants. In fact, I view Rennie as superior to Joseph if it weren't for Tony Brown coming along.
My concern with Wayne Smith is he seems to like to be the wise man from afar. Does he want to get into the grind and get his hands dirty? Does he have the passion to be an assistant??
Joe Schmidt is a bit the same in that I can't get a read on how committed he'd be to the exclusion of the needs of his family.
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@mohikamo said in All Blacks 2026:
I'd say the process was very regular.
HP manager conducted a review
Board chairman and a couple of others reviewed the HP managers report.
Those reviewing the report came to a conclusion and made a recommendation to the board.
Board meets, considers, and approves the recommendation
All very proper.
Kirk is a board animal.Happy Lancaster is the acting, and not Lendrum.
Yep I was more than happy with it. (not that it would worry NZR) And the more I have read and heard (although I don't like sacking coaches etc) I am quite comfortable in the way NZR acted!
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@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2026:
@mohikamo said in All Blacks 2026:
On the Savea thing; I think his membership of the PI AB group had maybe more influence on the course of events in the last few days, than his membership of the senior player AB group
He would be the unquestioned leader of the PI group.
Some one here posted some inside info here that the PIs as a group were pissed off.
That was a red flag for me.
I'd say Savea and Mealamu had a serious convo this week.When I heard that the PIs as a group were pissed; I considered it all over for Razor.
It's one of the challenges that has been flagged up here - on the pitch Ardie didnt get it done in 2025 but off the pitch he is more powerful than ever heading into 2026.
I don't see how an incoming coach is gonna feel he can drop him if that is what is best for the team because if he loses Ardies support and buy in that is gonna undermine his support from the wider playing group. Ardie is possibly the most powerful AB player ever since he has influence throughout the squad but also Mealamus ear.
It's not something I would personally want to manage.
I think that's reasonably easy to deal with. Have a meeting with senior players setting out how you want to play, your expectations of them and how you see them fitting into that philosophy. Tell them you'll be honest with them and expect their honesty in return. Explain if they don't agree or can't accept their role as you see it, you'll remove them from the environment, reminding them no-one is above the jersey and it's how they leave they'll be remembered.
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@tubbyj said in All Blacks 2026:
No one here is defending Scott Robertson his results were not good enough
The results in the win/loss columns were actually ok/normal/pass mark.
It was the actual performance both on and, extra surprisingly, off the field that was not ok.
Even the Cant/Crus mob must be disappointed.Robertson's game and man mangement was poor at the higher level.
And the powers that be didn't like the trajectory.
I think "trajectory" was the word Kirk used.
Robertson was gorn because his "trajectory" was consisdered to be not in the correct direction.The "main stream" media seem to be portraying his removal as a surprise.
Not a surprise here at TSF.
Anthony provided Kirk with the perfect opportunity to make the move.
And he took it.
