All Blacks 2026
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@Chris said in All Blacks 2026:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks 2026:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2026:
One thing has been pretty clear. Every criticism of Roberston from when he was initially appointed (lacked international experience, wasn't actually doing the hands on coaching at the Crusaders, was not detailed oriented enough, I could go on...) turned out to be 100% accurate.
He also turned out to wildly provincially biased, in both his coaching and player selections. It was a massive blindspot.
At this point we could appoint a high school rugby coach and it would be an improvement for the All Blacks.
He didn't pick any Blues (except the dud ones), but if anything he picked too many Chiefs, not Crusaders.
I don't really buy the international experience either.
A lack of detail though, fuck yes that was pretty obvious.After this experience, I certainly buy into the international experience. How the hell do you know what you're getting into after learning 1 style of play your whole coaching career?
Preparation is completely different as well it is not a structured comp with a pre season.
This bit I do agree with - the season structure is completely different - but then Hansen had that experience with Japan?
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@canefan said in All Blacks 2026:
@JA said in All Blacks 2026:
It's probably a good time to review the strength and conditioning role, and the actual goals of the program. Being fitter than everyone is not the trump card it was, particularly among the forwards There is a clear meta towards to a power game.
6-2 & 7-1 benches compound this, then TMO reviews, injuries, ambling towards scrums and lineouts slow the game down massively. One of the reasons the ultra-fast style Robertson was apparently trying to go for was years too late. It’s too reliant on the opposition wanting to play quick as well - SA or England can slow the game down at will with forwards having an apparent injury at almost every stoppage.
Then the meta of the power game is almost the opposite of the Super Rugby comp strengths.
We wanted to play fast but didn't seem to have any idea how to play with control or dictate pace of play. No wonder we faded in the second half of games so much
we also seemed to think everyone in the team needed to play fast, so our forwards got smaller but faster, our props seemed to do more ball handling practice than scrum practice....where i think a fast gameplan still needs guys doing the hard graft creating the space out wide
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@Chris said in All Blacks 2026:
@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2026:
One thing has been pretty clear. Every criticism of Roberston from when he was initially appointed (lacked international experience, wasn't actually doing the hands on coaching at the Crusaders, was not detailed oriented enough, I could go on...) turned out to be 100% accurate.
He also turned out to wildly provincially biased, in both his coaching and player selections. It was a massive blindspot.
At this point we could appoint a high school rugby coach and it would be an improvement for the All Blacks.
He didn't pick any Blues (except the dud ones), but if anything he picked too many Chiefs, not Crusaders.
I don't really buy the international experience either.
A lack of detail though, fuck yes that was pretty obvious.Seems he lacked knowledge of cultures outside of Christchurch and Summer
A bit harsh considering he played and coached in France and played in Japan.
He did show provincial bias at times, but in odd cases which did his standing with the squad no favours (Fihaki springs to mind, EB too although at least he was one of the better SR performers in his position). I'm not convinced that he was anti-Blues players per se. But he clearly only had his eyes on playing fast and loose, and picked lots of players trying to fit that mode (Sititi et al) without an appreciation for the grafters that do the prep work so that the show ponies can shine. And no doubt the way he dealt with guys like DP and Hoskins was unprofessional and unlikely to win over those players or others who sympathised and were suspicious of his motives
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@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2026:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks 2026:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2026:
One thing has been pretty clear. Every criticism of Roberston from when he was initially appointed (lacked international experience, wasn't actually doing the hands on coaching at the Crusaders, was not detailed oriented enough, I could go on...) turned out to be 100% accurate.
He also turned out to wildly provincially biased, in both his coaching and player selections. It was a massive blindspot.
At this point we could appoint a high school rugby coach and it would be an improvement for the All Blacks.
He didn't pick any Blues (except the dud ones), but if anything he picked too many Chiefs, not Crusaders.
I don't really buy the international experience either.
A lack of detail though, fuck yes that was pretty obvious.After this experience, I certainly buy into the international experience. How the hell do you know what you're getting into after learning 1 style of play your whole coaching career?
Preparation is completely different as well it is not a structured comp with a pre season.
This bit I do agree with - the season structure is completely different - but then Hansen had that experience with Japan?
Yes he did under JJ and that was successful, as defence coach.
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@canefan said in All Blacks 2026:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2026:
@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2026:
One thing has been pretty clear. Every criticism of Roberston from when he was initially appointed (lacked international experience, wasn't actually doing the hands on coaching at the Crusaders, was not detailed oriented enough, I could go on...) turned out to be 100% accurate.
He also turned out to wildly provincially biased, in both his coaching and player selections. It was a massive blindspot.
At this point we could appoint a high school rugby coach and it would be an improvement for the All Blacks.
He didn't pick any Blues (except the dud ones), but if anything he picked too many Chiefs, not Crusaders.
I don't really buy the international experience either.
A lack of detail though, fuck yes that was pretty obvious.Seems he lacked knowledge of cultures outside of Christchurch and Summer
A bit harsh considering he played and coached in France and played in Japan.
He did show provincial bias at times, but in odd cases which did his standing with the squad no favours (Fihaki springs to mind, EB too although at least he was one of the better SR performers in his position). I'm not convinced that he was anti-Blues players per se. But he clearly only had his eyes on playing fast and loose, and picked lots of players trying to fit that mode (Sititi et al) without an appreciation for the grafters that do the prep work so that the show ponies can shine. And no doubt the way he dealt with guys like DP and Hoskins was unprofessional and unlikely to win over those players or others who sympathised and were suspicious of his motives
He also dropped Crusaders players Havilli,Blackadder and selected more Chiefs than any other team.
So I don't buy in to the Crusader bias, Fihaki trained as did a lot of players with the squad he never was picked in a squad. -
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks 2026:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2026:
One thing has been pretty clear. Every criticism of Roberston from when he was initially appointed (lacked international experience, wasn't actually doing the hands on coaching at the Crusaders, was not detailed oriented enough, I could go on...) turned out to be 100% accurate.
He also turned out to wildly provincially biased, in both his coaching and player selections. It was a massive blindspot.
At this point we could appoint a high school rugby coach and it would be an improvement for the All Blacks.
He didn't pick any Blues (except the dud ones), but if anything he picked too many Chiefs, not Crusaders.
I don't really buy the international experience either.
A lack of detail though, fuck yes that was pretty obvious.After this experience, I certainly buy into the international experience. How the hell do you know what you're getting into after learning 1 style of play your whole coaching career?
So Jamie Joseph's time coaching Japan - what he learned from the Japanese style of rugby - is what is going to make a difference?
Robertson played overseas too, is that not exposure to a different style?Yeah, he took them to a QF, and has had exposure to facing the best international sides in the world. Sure, it's not European experience on a week to week basis, but it's more experience than the previous coach had, and the word 'cattle' has been used around here a lot, JJ, more than anyone, has coached sides throughout his career that have had a lack of cattle.
Oh come on, you cannot compare exposure overseas as a player and a coach. A player, you're focusing on your own job at hand and what you have to do. A coach is responsible for running the whole ship.
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@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks 2026:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2026:
One thing has been pretty clear. Every criticism of Roberston from when he was initially appointed (lacked international experience, wasn't actually doing the hands on coaching at the Crusaders, was not detailed oriented enough, I could go on...) turned out to be 100% accurate.
He also turned out to wildly provincially biased, in both his coaching and player selections. It was a massive blindspot.
At this point we could appoint a high school rugby coach and it would be an improvement for the All Blacks.
He didn't pick any Blues (except the dud ones), but if anything he picked too many Chiefs, not Crusaders.
I don't really buy the international experience either.
A lack of detail though, fuck yes that was pretty obvious.After this experience, I certainly buy into the international experience. How the hell do you know what you're getting into after learning 1 style of play your whole coaching career?
So Jamie Joseph's time coaching Japan - what he learned from the Japanese style of rugby - is what is going to make a difference?
Robertson played overseas too, is that not exposure to a different style?something im not sure gets mentioned much but i know i actually really enjoyed watching japan play, they were fun to watch even when they lost...that would be an improvement
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@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2026:
something im not sure gets mentioned much but i know i actually really enjoyed watching japan play, they were fun to watch even when they lost...that would be an improvement
Yes, and NZ XV!
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@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2026:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@African-Monkey said in All Blacks 2026:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2026:
One thing has been pretty clear. Every criticism of Roberston from when he was initially appointed (lacked international experience, wasn't actually doing the hands on coaching at the Crusaders, was not detailed oriented enough, I could go on...) turned out to be 100% accurate.
He also turned out to wildly provincially biased, in both his coaching and player selections. It was a massive blindspot.
At this point we could appoint a high school rugby coach and it would be an improvement for the All Blacks.
He didn't pick any Blues (except the dud ones), but if anything he picked too many Chiefs, not Crusaders.
I don't really buy the international experience either.
A lack of detail though, fuck yes that was pretty obvious.After this experience, I certainly buy into the international experience. How the hell do you know what you're getting into after learning 1 style of play your whole coaching career?
So Jamie Joseph's time coaching Japan - what he learned from the Japanese style of rugby - is what is going to make a difference?
Robertson played overseas too, is that not exposure to a different style?something im not sure gets mentioned much but i know i actually really enjoyed watching japan play, they were fun to watch even when they lost...that would be an improvement
Yep, they were good fun. What I like about Joseph is that he makes sense when he speaks about rugby, he's no-nonsense, and you can generally see what he's trying to achieve. That was very much the case with the way he had Japan playing to their strengths and to minimise their weaknesses.
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@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
Yep, they were good fun. What I like about Joseph is that he makes sense when he speaks about rugby, he's no-nonsense, and you can generally see what he's trying to achieve. That was very much the case with the way he had Japan playing to their strengths and to minimise their weaknesses.
Yes that is an appealing factor after a year or two of whatever those press conferences were..
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Tony Brown, " I don't have an out". No BS and clear language, everything I hear or read about this person screams good lad. If he had promised Rassie he would stay, I doubt he would have left the dark side anyway. He ain't no Eddie Jones type.
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@Chris said in All Blacks 2026:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2026:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2026:
@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2026:
One thing has been pretty clear. Every criticism of Roberston from when he was initially appointed (lacked international experience, wasn't actually doing the hands on coaching at the Crusaders, was not detailed oriented enough, I could go on...) turned out to be 100% accurate.
He also turned out to wildly provincially biased, in both his coaching and player selections. It was a massive blindspot.
At this point we could appoint a high school rugby coach and it would be an improvement for the All Blacks.
He didn't pick any Blues (except the dud ones), but if anything he picked too many Chiefs, not Crusaders.
I don't really buy the international experience either.
A lack of detail though, fuck yes that was pretty obvious.Seems he lacked knowledge of cultures outside of Christchurch and Summer
A bit harsh considering he played and coached in France and played in Japan.
He did show provincial bias at times, but in odd cases which did his standing with the squad no favours (Fihaki springs to mind, EB too although at least he was one of the better SR performers in his position). I'm not convinced that he was anti-Blues players per se. But he clearly only had his eyes on playing fast and loose, and picked lots of players trying to fit that mode (Sititi et al) without an appreciation for the grafters that do the prep work so that the show ponies can shine. And no doubt the way he dealt with guys like DP and Hoskins was unprofessional and unlikely to win over those players or others who sympathised and were suspicious of his motives
He also dropped Crusaders players Havilli,Blackadder and selected more Chiefs than any other team.
So I don't buy in to the Crusader bias, Fihaki trained as did a lot of players with the squad he never was picked in a squad.Yeah I don't think the provincial bias tag quite fits. But he certainly treated some players very poorly
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@george33 said in All Blacks 2026:
@Chris So the review with the NZR did not involve any players from the Crusaders.
Think there was 20 players so they completely shut out.Very biased review then that will divide the group for sure,
I have not heard that . -
@george33 said in All Blacks 2026:
So the review with the NZR did not involve any players from the Crusaders.
Think there was 20 players so they completely shut out.That seems a bit off. You’d expect Crusaders players to be able to engage openly and honestly with criticisms raised by others. Excluding them suggests a lack of trust in those players and could lead to the same division there appears to be now.
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@ShaquilleOatmeal said in All Blacks 2026:
@george33 said in All Blacks 2026:
So the review with the NZR did not involve any players from the Crusaders.
Think there was 20 players so they completely shut out.That seems a bit off. You’d expect Crusaders players to be able to engage openly and honestly with criticisms raised by others. Excluding them suggests a lack of trust in those players and could lead to the same division there appears to be now.
It also would reflect badly on NZR and open up a real can of worms.
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@Chris said in All Blacks 2026:
@george33 said in All Blacks 2026:
@Chris So the review with the NZR did not involve any players from the Crusaders.
Think there was 20 players so they completely shut out.Very biased review then that will divide the group for sure,
I have not heard that .@george33 do you mean that the review was open to everyone but no crusaders provided feedback? or was the review targeted, they chose who to talk to and didn;t talk to any of the crusaders?
