All Blacks 2026
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@nzzp said in All Blacks 2026:
@sparky said in All Blacks 2026:
@Bones Warren Gatland started coaching Galway in 1989 so yeah he's been around as a coach for a very long time.
feels like 1889
I was still being schooled when rugby went professional. It was so amateur, I could have gone semi pro. I think that ends this conversation.
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@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2026:
I don't think Henry or Hansen had particularly impressive CVs (if titles were the only metric) when they were appointed, did they?
I take it you're talking about a Henry and Hansen who hadn't won multiple championships between them from opposite ends of the country nor tried their luck overseas?
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@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks 2026:
I don't think Henry or Hansen had particularly impressive CVs (if titles were the only metric) when they were appointed, did they?
Graham Henry had been Head Coach when Auckland won the NPC four times in a row in the 1990s and when the Blues won the Super 12 in 1996 and 1997 and then "Technical Adviser" when they won in 2003. He did so well at Wales initially that he was known by the locals as "The Great Redeemer".
It didn't go so well for him with the British and Irish Lions in 2001 and when he got sacked by Wales in 2002. He has since said he was suffering from burnout and clinical depression at the time.
Steve Hansen had coached Canterbury to a couple of NPC wins and been assistant at the 1999-2001 Threepeat Crusaders. His time at Wales was much less successful, but he had been All Blacks Assistant from 2004 to 2011 and was the continuation candidate after the 2011 World Cup win and was clearly liked and respected by the players.
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@W32 said in All Blacks 2026:
Apologies if this has been asked, but if the ABs were rated #1 in the world instead of #2, does the fern think he still would have been canned? Has this happened because a NZ coach (TB) is assisting Nzeds biggest rival and Kirk et al are thinking this is a genius move? Word is that it wasn't a player revolt so one has to think it’s because the ABs are not number one.
Or is this shake up because NZ rugby as a whole is in a shambles and Razor has effectively been the scapegoat?I think that Kirk has come out in the press and moved the emphasis away from the players feedback in an attempt to take some of the heat off them and minimise the narrative of a 'player revolt' - which is smart because it does not end well if this whole saga gets blamed on senior players - especially if they start getting hit with point blank questions when interviews start flowing this season.
But i think deep down that must have been a large part of it
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@Yeetyaah said in All Blacks 2026:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:
he won back to back titles straight away
Not to mention he took over a horrible Chiefs team who placed 10th the 2 years previous.
And he had an almost 70% percentage over 6 seasons.
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@sparky said in All Blacks 2026:
@hikastags Evolution rather than revolution is what we need.
I've always been really impressed with Steve Hansen's skills as a selector and in man management so I'd love to see him with something like the selector/mentor role that Brian Lochore had early in the Graham Henry era, although he's no longer a Head Coach.
Steve Hansen was voted by his peers World Rugby Coach of the Year four times.
We have guys with knowledge of leading successful World Cup campaigns, we'd be stupid not to tap into that a bit.
sorry to go back a couple of days
I feel the opposite, we had evolution with Henry > Hansen > Foster and i thought there was pretty universal acceptance it was time for change with Razor...but got more evolution (same players trying variations of the same gameplan)
I would say from the last year or two of hansens time onwards it was flat or downhill....and i think thats because the rest of the world has had 15 years or more to work out how to break down our "evolving" gameplan...we need some surprises....to get the other nations back on their toes not sure what we're going to do next
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@Kiwiwomble I thought what we got with Robertson was a very impatient, helter skelter style with the players looking for miracle plays too often and not playing appropriately to their field position. Our exits were appalling.
I want a game plan that relies on our traditional strengths more and allows players time to think.
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@sparky said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kiwiwomble I thought what we got with Robertson was a very impatient, helter skelter style with the players looking for miracle plays too often and not playing appropriately to their field position. Our exits were appalling.
isnt that the game plan the hansen started? the attack from anywhere, kick pass in our own 22 and open them up when they werent expecting it? the big difference is he did it with he class of 2015 so it had grounding in the skills of the players we had
I want a game plan that relies on our traditional strengths more and allows players time to think.
that would be revolutionary to what weve seen over the last several years, maybe i miss read your original post
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@Kiwiwomble Steve Hansen's game plan was about pressure rather than possession: punishing turnovers and opposition mistakes, using dual playmakers to make decisions on the field and change the structure of play, getting forwards to pass before contact and finally using loose forwards as finishers or to set up tries alongside back three players in wide channels.
With Robertson, it felt like the backrow player were being encouraged to act as playmakers wherever they were on the park.
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@sparky said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kiwiwomble Steve Hansen's game plan was about pressure rather than possession: punishing turnovers and opposition mistakes, using dual playmakers to make decisions on the field and change the structure of play, getting forwards to pass before contact and finally using loose forwards as finishers or to set up tries alongside back three players in wide channels.
With Robertson, it felt like the backrow player were being encouraged to act as playmakers wherever they were on the park.
still feels like an evolution of that the last three coaches were doing...but like a photo copy of a photo copy its got rough and ugly
@sparky said in All Blacks 2026:
I want a game plan that relies on our traditional strengths more and allows players time to think.
I agree with this though
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@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2026:
....we need some surprises....to get the other nations back on their toes not sure what we're going to do next
I thought we'd get some surprises in Robertson's 2nd year.
Sadly we did, but got the wrong ones.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2026:
....we need some surprises....to get the other nations back on their toes not sure what we're going to do next
I thought we'd get some surprises in Robertson's 2nd year.
Sadly we did, but got the wrong ones.
100%....i even hoped we get it in year one...and then accepted he wanted to settle int he role.....and then.....just kept doing the same stuff
