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The Crusaders start to the season shows their loss is the All Blacks gain
Not all coaches are created equal.
So, as I watched the Crusaders slump to a third-straight defeat, to start the Super Rugby Pacific season, I couldn’t help but think of Ian Foster.
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The Chiefs weren’t a bad team once. They just weren’t an elite one while Foster was at the helm.
In came Dave Rennie, though, and the team won back-to-back championships.
Scott Robertson was always going to be a hard, if not impossible, act for Rob Penney to follow at the Crusaders.
On that score, Penney’s not unlike Foster.
If there’s a difference between what Robertson had and what Penney has now, it’s two key players.
We know all that. We know Sam Whitelock was the beating heart of the Crusaders and Richie Mo’unga its brains.
We knew they were irreplaceable and so it’s proved so far this season.
But no-one should be surprised that, by their own high standards, the Crusaders are struggling. We all saw this coming and predicted it months back.
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Penney isn’t in Robertson’s echelon as a coach, just as Foster wasn’t in Rennie’s.
That’s life and something people on the ground in Christchurch need to make sure the Crusaders’ board is made to ponder in the coming months.
They appointed Penney and the results during his tenure are on them.
But what this situation does is enthuse me about the All Blacks and the potential for Robertson to do something quite transformational with that side.
He isn’t your average coach. He isn’t your steady-as-she-goes, let’s not rock the boat type.
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He is a man of vision.
More importantly, Robertson is a man able to sell that vision to players.
Notwithstanding the absences of Whitelock and Mo’unga, which are huge, the Crusaders’ start to the season speaks volumes to me about how good Robertson was.
How for all the quirks and occasional gobbledegook, he was just a winner.
A man who knew how he wanted to play the game, gave his players simple jobs, instilled them with unwavering confidence and then looked forward to his end of season dance.
Our faith in the All Blacks began to wane a bit in 2017. It took a further hit in 2019 and then we sat through the defeats to Argentina and Ireland and basically counted down the days till Foster was gone.
We hoped they might surprise at last year’s Rugby World Cup – and they came close – but some of us felt any encouraging performance was probably in spite of the man at the helm.
We don’t have that issue now.
Yes, the All Blacks have lost some talent. Not least Whitelock and Mo’unga.
But the Robertson appointment presents an opportunity to reimagine what this team is capable of and to invigorate the environment.
I’ve always understood the doubts some people have about Robertson. Hell, even New Zealand Rugby baulked at appointing him in 2019.
But the current state of the Crusaders tells us a lot about his prowess as a coach and should encourage us to hope for more from the All Blacks in the coming years.
If Robertson’s career has taught us anything, it’s that he’s not your average coach.
Comments on RugbyPass
Don’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
41 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
41 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
41 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
39 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
1 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
41 Go to comments