'Name the new coach or don't': Ex-All Black captain blasts handling of Foster situation
Ex-All Black captain Kieran Read has weighed in on the All Blacks coaching job drama between Ian Foster and Scott Robertson.
Foster publicly came out last week to defend his position and openly shared his view with the media that he thinks it is ‘highly unlikely’ that he will be the coach in 2024.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson told Newstalk ZB he ‘learnt his lesson’ after speaking too soon about a potential appointment as All Blacks coach.
Former captain Read, who was coached by both men within the All Blacks and at the Crusaders during his career, joined Sky Sport NZ’s The Breakdown and said the whole thing has been handled poorly from his perspective.
“It is interesting to see, the whole thing hasn’t been handled well,” Read said.
“New Zealand Rugby, really all this stuff, should be happening behind closed doors.
“It shouldn’t be aired what both coaches are saying, what everyone is talking about but hopefully we get to the bottom of it and through it soon.”
There have been worries that the saga would derail the All Blacks World Cup campaign but the double World Cup winner from 2011 and 2015 said that these fears are overblown.
Read went as far as saying the players ‘won’t care’ as long as the right approach is taken.
He called on New Zealand Rugby to take a hard line approach and go out and name someone or don’t, without fluffing around having the episode dragged out through the media.
“Players don’t want distractions but from an honest players’ perspective, I think they won’t mind,” he shared.
“They won’t care what happens, as long as it gets done in the right way.
“I think the way it has been dealt with at the moment, there are distractions everywhere.
“Just go in and name the new coach or don’t, it is as simple as that.
“For the players, it is not going to derail them if they name the All Black coach next week.”
After winning a sixth straight title last year, Robertson is still the head coach of the Crusaders and opened the season with a shock 31-10 loss at home to the Chiefs.
On whether the All Blacks coaching drama has been a distraction for the Crusaders leading to the loss, Read didn’t think so.
The four time Super Rugby champion did however throw his support in behind Robertson as the next All Blacks coach.
“I don’t think so, no,” Read said.
“Razor is Razor. I think he is in that position where, I don’t know the communication between both parties or what.
“From my point of view, I think Razor is the next All Blacks coach. You know, it’s probably what should be happening after the World Cup.
“But it’s like, okay, how best we get there.
“I think if we are going to do it and look after the best coaches in the country, which Razor certainly is, you name him and move on.
“Everyone can just focus on supporting Fozzy. Because that’s what we need to do for this year, is get in behind him.
“The way New Zealand Rugby are just letting things hang at the moment, Fozzy probably doesn’t feel like there is much support for him.”
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments