Patrick Tuipulotu: Razor's exit sends 'cutthroat' reminder to All Blacks

It’s a cutthroat, high-performance world for the All Blacks, a fact made chillingly clear by Scott Robertson’s dismissal, and one that has clearly reverberated throughout the player group.

For veteran lock Patrick Tuipulotu, the news of Robertson’s departure has left an interim leadership gap that needs to be filled, and he sees the players as the most appropriate candidates to step up.

It remains unclear how long the appointment process for the new head coach will take, but a precedent has been set that extends beyond the coaching group, says Tuipulotu.

“There’s indecision at the moment, especially with the head coach vacancy. I suppose it’s a chance for the players to step up and keep the group gelled,” the 33-year-old told reporters at the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season launch in Auckland.

“There’s a lot of unknown. It’s interesting times. For myself, not knowing what’s going to happen is the uneasy bit.

“However, in this day and age, high-performance sport is really cut-throat, and this just shows how cut-throat it is. It just means we need to be on our game a bit more.”

The Blues captain says an All Blacks team Zoom call shortly after Robertson’s exit was confirmed provided some clarity on the situation and re-centred the players on the immediate task at hand, the Super Rugby season.

In the meantime, New Zealand Rugby will continue its work behind the scenes, as it did over the summer period with the now infamous, and still mysterious, 2025 season review.

When asked whether he thought change was needed in the All Blacks coaching group, Tuipulotu answered “yes and no.”

“There are always chances for improvement, and I probably felt improvement was needed. It’s hard to say because I was at home during the end-of-year tour, so I’m unsure how the dynamics were and couldn’t speak on that.”

While Blues head coach Vern Cotter has ruled himself out of the race with his recently announced two-year Reds deal, several big-name contenders remain.

“There’s a list there, but none of us know who’s on the shortlist,” Tuipulotu said. “We were asked what we want in a coach, personally, and I think that was delivered to a panel.”