Scott Robertson leaves New Zealand in state of limbo

There was a time where the All Blacks were a benchmark for consistency and professionalism, setting the standard that every other rugby nation and even teams from other sports aspired to match. Now, less than two years out from the next men’s Rugby World Cup, New Zealand Rugby finds itself without a men’s head coach, a chief executive and a high performance chief.

To go through those vacancies in reverse order, on Monday it was announced that Mike Anthony was leaving his role to become Brighton & Hove Albion’s first-ever head of player development and high performance, hired for his “exceptional ability to build environments where players, coaches and teams can thrive”, as the Premier League club put it.

Mark Robinson’s resignation as CEO was announced in June last year before he saw out the rest of 2025. It had not been an easy tenure, managing Covid-19, Ineos walking away from a sponsorship contract early and a contentious investment deal with the US private equity firm Silver Lake. No successor has been named.

And now the final domino to fall is Robertson, known to all as “Razor”, who was appointed to coach the All Blacks off the back of tremendous success with the Crusaders, winning seven titles in a row between 2017 and 2023 before succeeding Ian Foster.

A head coach who spent his down time surfing and his on-field celebrations breakdancing, Razor remains unique. When England dismissed Eddie Jones at the back end of 2022, Robertson seemed a legitimate candidate to replace him.

Except now, following a damning end-of-year review process in which about 20 All Blacks players were consulted, it became clear according to David Kirk, the New Zealand rugby chair, that the All Blacks were “not on track” and the board “weren’t convinced the team was going to be back on track without changes”.

Perhaps we should have known when Robertson was appointed that the road was about to get bumpier. He was unveiled in March 2023, six months from the Rugby World Cup in France, with Foster still very much in charge of the All Blacks while knowing that whenever New Zealand’s tournament came to an end, so would his tenure.

The clamour to get Robertson in was understandable given his domestic success, with New Zealand Rugby also fearing that he could be lost to another Test job overseas following the conclusion of the 2023 World Cup. Had Foster guided the All Blacks to a fourth Rugby World Cup title then a few interesting conversations may have taken place. Instead, New Zealand lost by a point in the final to South Africa. Foster’s All Blacks went through some rough patches, losing a Test series at home to Ireland for the first time during a run of five defeats in six Tests in the middle of 2022 which left his job under huge threat. But he appeared to have the backing of the senior players and was emboldened by the appointment of new assistant coaches, including Jason Ryan.

With Robertson, there were early signs of teething issues. Leon MacDonald, one of Robertson’s assistants, left after only five matches when their working relationship deteriorated. This September another assistant, Jason Holland, announced that he would be moving on after New Zealand’s end-of-year tour.

In the end, unrest among the players on that tour proved to be pivotal. Ardie Savea has been at the forefront of that speculation, with a report earlier this week suggesting that the former men’s World Player of the Year was so unhappy that he was exploring whether to extend his spell in Japan with Kobe Steelers or to head to Europe, where clubs would be lining up to sign him.

Kirk insisted that Savea was not solely responsible – “There was definitely no revolt. The players were very measured and thoughtful in their responses. It’s very unfair to say that Ardie somehow led something, not at all” – but it would require only a few senior players of Savea’s calibre to feel disillusioned for the mood to change radically. Better to get it right now ahead of a “demanding year in 2026”, as Kirk put it regarding the daunting tour of South Africa, than to leave the All Blacks with no hope whatsoever at next year’s Rugby World Cup across the water in Australia.

“Coaching the All Blacks is one of the… well, it’s the greatest coaching role in the world,” Kirk added, and while it certainly belongs in the conversation, the high regard the role was held in during Graham Henry and Steve Hansen’s eras has certainly dimmed. Both of those coaches notably cut their teeth in Test rugby by having stints with Wales before they ascended to the big job back home, and Robertson’s lack of Test experience was a notable mark against him in both 2019 – when he was passed over for Foster, Hansen’s assistant – and in 2022 when Foster was under pressure and the players helped convince NZR to keep him in place.

Even if Robertson leaves the All Blacks with a better win record than Foster – 74% (W20 L7) compared to Foster's 70% (W32 D2 L12) – it is the magnitude of those defeats that will linger. A record defeat, 10-43 at home to South Africa. A first defeat at Twickenham since 2012. Conceding 38 points at home to Argentina in one of Robertsons’s earliest games in charge.

The expectations for Robertson’s tenure were so high that this can only be viewed as a colossal disappointment. According to Radio New Zealand, players struggled to buy into Robertson’s “big picture” coaching when they were seeking more immediate tactical fixes. And once the dressing room has gone, how can you recover?

Jamie Joseph, a coaching veteran with Test experience leading Japan who recently coached New Zealand’s second XV, appears the most likely successor, perhaps with Joe Schmidt, formerly of Ireland and Australia, on hand to help.

Robertson will be sought after in Japan and Europe, with Harlequins a rumoured landing spot, whenever he is ready. But to see the All Blacks in such disarray is bizarre, the kind of antics we have become used to from their Bledisloe rivals Australia in recent years, and emphasises their sudden downfall when they once appeared impenetrable as the flag-bearers for the sport.

Photograph by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images