Barrett drops new All Blacks head coach contender into ring

With Steve Hansen’s departure as New Zealand head coach following the World Cup 2019 many names have been linked with the job.

For months Ireland coach Joe Schmidt was the number one candidate for the job. However, Schmidt’s decision to retire following the World Cup, New Zealand have been forced to readjust their candidate list.

The other option would be to hand Ian Foster the position, especially if New Zealand Rugby maintains the policy of promoting from within that it adopted when appointing Hansen.

Foster has been assistant coach since 2011 and knows the All Blacks set-up.

Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson is also an option. Robertson has made no secret of his intention to succeed Hansen.

He might not have experience in terms of coaching on the international level, but the man nicknamed ‘Razor’ has managed to revive the Crusaders – leading them to back-to-back Super Rugby titles in his first two seasons.

A new name that has been dropped is John Plumtree.

It seems like the incoming Hurricanes coach John Plumtree could also be a legitimate contender as far as star All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett is concerned.

In an interview with a New Zealand newspaper the Newshub, the 27-year-old Barrett placed his vote of confidence in Plumtree and as reported, the 53-year-old has signalled his interest in the All Blacks head coaching job.

“[Plumtree] certainly has the potential,” Barrett told Newshub.

“He’s a great coach from the number of years I’ve had with him so I certainly wouldn’t write him out,”