All Blacks 2026
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@Wurzel said in All Blacks 2026:
Am hearing the players are shocked Razor lost his job.
They gave the feedback in the review in hope and belief that NZR would fix the communication issues or put support in place for Razor.
They’re gobsmacked Kirk actually pulled the trigger.
Awkward but understandable given nobody else in the professional era has been moved on mid-term like that, so I could see them honestly venting their issues on the assumption not that much would happen.
Also entirely possible that Kirk's original plan wasn't to
axemutually terminate the contract, and that actually came out of discussions with Robertson where it became obvious that him continuing as coach was untenable. -
Didn't Kirk say they'd be doing the appointment properly? Meaning there will need to be applications along with other work behind the scenes for applicants to assemble a team, honestly cant see that JJ has been appointed and TB decided to bail on SA, all in a few days.
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@Godder said in All Blacks 2026:
@Wurzel said in All Blacks 2026:
Am hearing the players are shocked Razor lost his job.
They gave the feedback in the review in hope and belief that NZR would fix the communication issues or put support in place for Razor.
They’re gobsmacked Kirk actually pulled the trigger.
Awkward but understandable given nobody else in the professional era has been moved on mid-term like that, so I could see them honestly venting their issues on the assumption not that much would happen.
Also entirely possible that Kirk's original plan wasn't to
axemutually terminate the contract, and that actually came out of discussions with Robertson where it became obvious that him continuing as coach was untenable.Kirk no doubt would've spoken with Razor to see what his plan to address the feedback was. Only once it was obvious he had no suitable plan, or was entirely oblivious, would he have contemplated the best course of action was to make Razor realise his ongoing employment was beyond tenuous.
Standard governance. I think @Nepia mentioned this previously.
I'm not going to pretend I care about Razor's feelings in this either. It might make me a fluffybunny in the eyes of some, but to me personal ambition counts for naught when it comes to the success of the All Blacks.
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@Chuck72 said in All Blacks 2026:
@frugby what is his body of working with that makes him the best choice?
I belive Rennie has a better CV than JJRennie’s stint with Australia was fairly underwhelming. I think people remember it to be better than it was because Eddie Jones was even worse.
Not a lot in it, but I think wha Joseph did with Japan tips it.
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@Steven-Harris said in All Blacks 2026:
Mark Robinson seems to have escaped any inquisition for me he has a lot to answer for
the one positive that has come out of this unfortunate process is the chairman David Kirk , next step is to find a CEO that’s singing from the same song sheet and has the best interests of NZ Rugby because current group are massive part of the bi product of where we are sittingYep.
I'm hoping the termination has an impact across the entire NZR organization, not just the senior XV.
Seems that as an institution they got "comfortable."
Kirk guna give the whole place a shake up. No one is to be "safe." -
@Godder said in All Blacks 2026:
@Wurzel said in All Blacks 2026:
Am hearing the players are shocked Razor lost his job.
They gave the feedback in the review in hope and belief that NZR would fix the communication issues or put support in place for Razor.
They’re gobsmacked Kirk actually pulled the trigger.
Awkward but understandable given nobody else in the professional era has been moved on mid-term like that, so I could see them honestly venting their issues on the assumption not that much would happen.
Also entirely possible that Kirk's original plan wasn't to
axemutually terminate the contract, and that actually came out of discussions with Robertson where it became obvious that him continuing as coach was untenable.@antipodean said in All Blacks 2026:
@Godder said in All Blacks 2026:
@Wurzel said in All Blacks 2026:
Am hearing the players are shocked Razor lost his job.
They gave the feedback in the review in hope and belief that NZR would fix the communication issues or put support in place for Razor.
They’re gobsmacked Kirk actually pulled the trigger.
Awkward but understandable given nobody else in the professional era has been moved on mid-term like that, so I could see them honestly venting their issues on the assumption not that much would happen.
Also entirely possible that Kirk's original plan wasn't to
axemutually terminate the contract, and that actually came out of discussions with Robertson where it became obvious that him continuing as coach was untenable.Kirk no doubt would've spoken with Razor to see what his plan to address the feedback was. Only once it was obvious he had no suitable plan, or was entirely oblivious, would he have contemplated the best course of action was to make Razor realise his ongoing employment was beyond tenuous.
Standard governance. I think @Nepia mentioned this previously.
I'm not going to pretend I care about Razor's feelings in this either. It might make me a fluffybunny in the eyes of some, but to me personal ambition counts for naught when it comes to the success of the All Blacks.
Early rumours on here were that Hansen was gone, not Razor. Pure speculation but any chance he was told Hansen has to go, he said no, and the final response was then you have to ... ?
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@antipodean said in All Blacks 2026:
Only once it was obvious he had no suitable plan, or was entirely oblivious,
Yep, 100% this
Concerns raised. Razor has many strenths, but I am not sure articulating a plan to a board is one of them. I suspect he struggles to write well - hence his (reported) request to speak to the board.
The Board winds up in a tough place. If you have concerns the Board thinks are legit, and the coach can't or won't address them properly, there is only one course of action in a high performance environment. Note that Razor also didn't have Robinson running interference for him.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2026:
Didn't Kirk say they'd be doing the appointment properly? Meaning there will need to be applications along with other work behind the scenes for applicants to assemble a team, honestly cant see that JJ has been appointed and TB decided to bail on SA, all in a few days.
Yes, he has commented that he had not been happy with the previous selection processes.
That'd be the Hansen/Foster/Robertson appointments.
Having said that, I am sure the process will be a bit different this time, and so it might be some time before a new selection is made.
And they do have time.
A quick Joseph (next cab off the rank) appointment, would probably just be more of the same. -
@nzzp said in All Blacks 2026:
Concerns raised. Razor has many strenths, but I am not sure articulating a plan to a board is one of them. I suspect he struggles to write well - hence his (reported) request to speak to the board.
He'd have no hope if he articulated to the board like he did with the media.
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You know the one thing that is so weird about how this has all gone down with Razor and his lack of social skills is I met him briefly in Hamilton the Friday before the France 3 test.
He came out to meet fans there for the AB training, there was a French couple standing next to me and he talked to them in French, talked to me and my son and asked where we were from etc. bantered for a bit got a photo with him. My son doesn't follow rugby that closely but he was like "Razor is cool".
He was very jovial and friendly and obliging. He does not come across like your typical grumpy type of coach - it's the strangest thing that he couldn't manage the social interaction part of the job when that seems to be his strength.
He really is an enigmatic, different person. Hard to figure the guy out.
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@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2026:
He really is an enigmatic, different person. Hard to figure the guy out.
NZR probably did him a disservice by not really digging into what he needed to be successful and making sure some support is there. It's probably as we don't know if support was offered and not taken or not effective. Either way, NZR should be looking at their processes and how they got it wrong.
Still rate Kirk for taking the bold move and the heat that goes with it.
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We all know there’s a big difference between making casual conversation with someone and standing in a boardroom defending a plan or decision that will affect an entire company. He could very well be articulate while asking how someone’s day’s been while (as we’ve seen) fairly bad, under pressure answering for poor performances.
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On the issue of whether Razor wasn’t willing to fix things - go back to when Kirk is addressing the media with his own remarks (before questions). He seemed to suggest there was some back and forth on changes/the way forward but then felt it was no longer possible.
Maybe Razor as was mentioned above refused to accept his own shortcomings
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I have been thinking today. Can 2026 be a 2010 all over again? I remember after 2009 thinking we had no shot at the world cup. South Africa looked invincible. But then 2010 comes along and something clicked. Maybe I am delusional and this is cope, but I genuinely think it is possible, even with a new coaching set up.
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@zedsdeadbaby said in All Blacks 2026:
On the issue of whether Razor wasn’t willing to fix things - go back to when Kirk is addressing the media with his own remarks (before questions). He seemed to suggest there was some back and forth on changes/the way forward but then felt it was no longer possible.
Maybe Razor as was mentioned above refused to accept his own shortcomings
Robertson either didn’t think there was anything wrong or didn’t have a satisfactory solution to the issues. And if he did have a solution, wouldn’t he have at least begun to implement it already?
