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Former All Black on why Jamie Joseph should be Razor's successor
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Harry Wilson and John Eales react to the current state of New Zealand Rugby
By Henry Lee
Former Wallabies captain and current Wallabies captain have discussed the state of rugby across the ditch at New Zealand Rugby, with the organisation still searching for a head coach to replace Scott Robertson.
NZR announced Robertson’s departure last month, and with the Rugby World Cup schedule for 2027 announced in full, discussions have continued across the ditch about what is happening in New Zealand.
Wallabies captain Harry Wilson, who will miss the start of the Super Rugby Pacific season for the Reds with an injury, spoke to media in Sydney after the Rugby World Cup schedule announcement.
Wilson was quick to shutdown any suggestion of New Zealand Rugby struggling in any way, still calling them a “world-class side”.
“Yeah, obviously, there’s a little bit happening there around the coach, but I guess for us, we played them last year and lost to them twice, so we know what sort of team they are, and they’ve been a world class team for a long time,” Wilson told reporters in Sydney.
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“No doubt how hard that pool match is going to be, and it’s something which we’re really excited for, and I think we get them probably three times before World Cup.”
John Eales, an 87-Test former Wallaby himself, echoes Wilson’s statement by saying that New Zealand Rugby’s disarray is different to other countries and organisations.
“Disarray for New Zealand Rugby is very different to disarray in just about every other rugby country, I think, 70% success rate under Razor over the last couple of years, now that’s not bad,” Eales told media in Sydney.
“So I think we’ve put things in perspective, they’re never going to be far off from putting a team on the field that can beat anyone in the world.
“They’ve got David Kirk there as the Chair of New Zealand Rugby, someone I respect enormously for his ability to think through and understand all the trade offs you have to make in making these decisions.”
Eales praised the way that Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh has handled their specific coaching change, saying that the situation has been very balanced.
“It’s, of course, never ideal to be changing coach under pressure this close to a tournament. I think the way Phil has handled the transition with Australia is has been very balanced and looked at how you can make something work in the best possible way.
“So there’s a lot more certainty here at this at this stage. But as I say, New Zealand are never far off from being good and outstanding actually, so I wouldn’t think that anyone will take them lightly in any way.”
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