Scott Robertson's exit a 'unanimous' call from NZR board following review

The New Zealand Rugby board ultimately reached a unanimous decision to part ways with Scott Robertson, following a deep dive into the findings of the 2025 All Blacks season review.

That’s the message the union’s chair, David Kirk, delivered when addressing the media in Auckland on Thursday afternoon. Kirk would not delve into the details of the review, which he played a leading role in conducting, and it is understood that the review will not be made public.

He did, however, explain how the board meeting played out and added that no payout will be needed to end Robertson’s contract early, with the coach a willing participant in his departure, having accepted the feedback of the review.

“This is the board’s call,” Kirk said. “All of the material that was collected was presented to the board and discussed in detail at a board meeting that lasted two or three hours. So the board was across all of the material, and all of the board members had lots of questions and lots of discussion, as did the high-performance management. Acting CEO Steve Lancaster was also at the board meeting.

“Following all of that discussion, the board reached a unanimous decision in the direction it gave with regard to the conversation with the head coach.”

Kirk was pressed further for any insight into the review’s findings and said that, with nearly 20 players canvassed, as well as all management and coaches, a “consistent theme” did emerge and was explored further. Kirk was then asked for his personal opinion on the All Blacks’ performances in 2025.

“We all have views, we all were frustrated by the inconsistency during the year,” he responded. “We played well for certain periods, and then not well for periods.

“We fell into a dark hole in the third quarter at times and gave away a lot of penalties at times. I know the coaching group was as frustrated as anyone with that.

“Those are just some examples off the top of my head, those are not definitive reasons why. It’s just about the trajectory of where we need to be.”

The All Blacks finished with a 10-win, three-loss record on the year, and while that rate is far from poor, it was not enough for Robertson to command his role moving forward. The record itself will not be a yardstick for the next coach’s success, according to Kirk.

While NZR will be casting a wide net in their search for Robertson’s replacement, one thing the board has not discussed is whether it would consider a foreign coach to lead the All Blacks.

As for Robertson himself, he may be a free agent, but he will not be permitted to take on certain opportunities until he has completed a stand-down period of roughly 12 months.

“He has some constraints on who he can work for and when,” Kirk revealed. “There are a number of other international countries, mostly top-tier ones.”