IMAGINE waking up to the news that your successor has been appointed before your bosses even told you about it …
That was most likely the situation with All Blacks head coach Ian Foster after the New Zealand Rugby Union announced yesterday that Crusaders mentor Scott Robertson would replace him after the Rugby World Cup in France later this year.
Foster has had a mixed bag of results so far in his tenure and was apparently on the brink of being fired last year.
But there’s no doubt, after his success with the Crusaders in Super Rugby, that Robertson is the right man for the job.
To be honest, he probably should have been appointed after the 2019 World Cup, when Steve Hansen left the post.
He was the outstanding candidate even if Foster was second-in-charge to Hansen through to the 2019 competition.
Robertson is a likeable mentor and his “out of the box” manner of coaching was seen as something that could be the next step in the evolution of All Black rugby after Hansen’s success.
But that wasn’t to be and the charismatic, dancing coach had to wait out another World Cup cycle to eventually get a look-in when Foster was preferred over him.
Rugby, though, is moving in a direction where characters like ‘Razor’, as Robertson is affectionately known, are needed in the sport – characters that give more life to the game through his celebrations when winning titles and even the odd media interview.
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You probably won’t see any other coach, except maybe Rassie Erasmus, pull out the dance moves when his team have won a trophy (or when receiving a ban), and that’s the type of energy rugby needs from the people involved.
Hopefully Robertson won’t be curbed as the All Black head coach when he wants to bust a move if his team wins the Rugby Championship in his first season.
But, the announcement by New Zealand Rugby should have been made after the World Cup to have as little impact on Foster and his management’s preparation for the tournament.
Imagine being told you will be fired after France 2023 – and it doesn’t even matter if you win the Webb Ellis Cup.
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Imagine having to prepare a team for the Rugby Championship and then the World Cup knowing that after that, everything is done.
Will that motivation be there? Will the players respond to Foster, knowing that they have a new coach coming in? Yes, a World Cup is happening that you need to prepare the players for but how do you do that when you know it’s goodbye afterwards?
Clearly, NZ Rugby wanted to fix their “error” of not appointing Robertson, and the All Blacks’ slump last season provided the perfect opportunity.
And yes, they’ve finally made the right appointment that can take the team to a higher level than they’ve been in since Japan 2019.
But the question remains to be answered: at what cost will this unusual announcement (in a World Cup year) come while the current coach still has to go and win the title?
@LeightonK
