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'We'll all be in for a helluva journey': Ex-All Blacks legend weighs in on coaching debate
May the best man win.
That is the view of former All Blacks lock and SKY TV rugby analyst Ian Jones as we count down to the (probable) announcement next week of the new All Blacks coaching team.
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Despite 26 coaches being shoulder-tapped to apply for the vacant position, it appears it is now a two-horse race between 2012-19 All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster and 2017-19 Super Rugby-winning Crusaders coach Scott Robertson.
The Season: Hamilton Boys High School – Episode 4
“Ultimately, I’ll back whoever gets the job. I played with Fozzie at the Chiefs and with Razor at the All Blacks. I’m adamant that I’ll support whoever it is 100 percent,” says Jones.
“You’ve got the established, the status quo, with Fozzie. He’s a details man. The players know where they stand with him and the direction they are heading. It looks like the team he is putting together is New Zealand to the core.
“On the flip side, Steve Hansen told us that Foster was coaching at the peak of his powers and yet we got spanked by England. If he’s at the top of his game, is he going to improve? That might be a wake-up call. Hansen’s record was amazing, but you need to look at the last two years from the Lions tour. What did we learn from the losses and how did we improve? Foster was part of all that.”
What does it take to become an All Black 10? New Zealand looks for a specific type, and it seems to produce a lot of them. @bensmithrugby https://t.co/NsNX6cSdrT
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 5, 2019
Robertson represents the new breed with a new broom. The last time New Zealand Rugby made a clean break with the previous regime was in 2003-04 when Graham Henry ousted John Mitchell.
“He will bring a new direction and purpose. That’s exciting for the public, because this is New Zealand’s team, not just the union’s. NZR is a conservative lot historically and they haven’t often deviated from that status quo. If it’s Razor, then we’ll all be in for a helluva journey, and that will be exciting too,” says Jones.
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He acknowledged the importance of having the right running mates. Failure to nail down that detail cost Robbie Deans when he applied for the All Blacks job in 2007. Scott McLeod, who did sterling work with the All Blacks’ defence in 2019, will surely feature in the thoughts of either Foster or Robertson.
“I don’t have the inside oil on who Razor’s running mates are, but there was talk of Ronan O’Gara. Mick Byrne’s been a resource coach for the All Blacks in the past and no disrespect to O’Gara, who’s clearly a very good coach, but do we need a non-New Zealander among the coaches?”
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It’s a fair question.
Jones does not see anything abnormal in having 26 original candidates whittled down to two credible contenders. Several withdrew from the running, of course.
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“I was excited by the potential of Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown, but that didn’t pan out. That hard-nosed directness of Jamie and the inventiveness of Brown might have been a good fit. The option of Razor to change direction might be a good thing, but it will come down to who his team is.”
“Calling on several candidates to apply is the way they’ve always done it. Back in the day, they always contacted all the NPC coaches to apply. When Brad Meurant was with North Harbour, he was flown down to Wellington for an interview. I don’t criticise them for shoulder-tapping all the people they have, because you never know until you ask sometimes.”
The Crusaders could have made a statement as a force for good. They didn't, writes Hamish Bidwell. https://t.co/biMHQKKaqG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 5, 2019
Jones played under three All Blacks coaches – Alex ‘Grizz’ Wyllie, Laurie Mains and John Hart. The latter was knocked back three times before finally ascending to the position in 1996, the right man to lead the All Blacks into the professional age. But he missed out in 1987, 1991 and again in 1994, when he challenged Mains after a mediocre All Blacks’ season.
The issue of senior player consultation is an interesting one and Jones has firm views on that.
“I was never asked my opinion as a senior player when they were choosing a new coach. I don’t know if you should be, either. Human nature dictates that you say what suits you the best. Coach A picked me and knows my style, so of course I’ll go with him every day of the week. It puts the players in an awkward position. At the end of the day, it’s an employment situation and you don’t get to pick who your boss is going to be,” says Jones.
“Having said that, input from departing senior players (such as Kieran Read and Ben Smith) and management will be crucial,” says Jones.
Interviews are expected to take place next week in Wellington.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments