All Blacks 2026
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2026:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2026:
Kirk is very savvy
I thought he looked a little uncomfortable at times, searching for the right words/answers.
Absolute night and day improvement to Mark Robinson I thought.
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I'm mildly surprised that Comms/losing the players was the issue since that was Robertson's biggest strength with both Canterbury and the Crusaders. He was generally a good (coaching) team builder too.
Perhaps he struggled with the transition from clearly delineated campaigns to the endless death struggle of test rugby.
Will be very interesting to see what he does next. He's young enough that he can take some time out, get some more experience elsewhere and have a second crack if he wants to.
I don't think you can be as successful as he's been without being a phenomenal coach. Its a question of whether he can/wants to step back from what's happened, figure out what went wrong and try to improve. His rep in Canterbury is that he can do that. But maybe too much success has gone to his head and he'll take off overseas convinced that he's always right, a bit like Robbie Deans.
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks 2026:
@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2026:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2026:
Kirk is very savvy
I thought he looked a little uncomfortable at times, searching for the right words/answers.
Absolute night and day improvement to Mark Robinson I thought.
He was a bumbler.
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@Cyclops said in All Blacks 2026:
I'm mildly surprised that Comms/losing the players was the issue since that was Robertson's biggest strength with both Canterbury and the Crusaders. He was generally a good (coaching) team builder too.
Perhaps he struggled with the transition from clearly delineated campaigns to the endless death struggle of test rugby.
Will be very interesting to see what he does next. He's young enough that he can take some time out, get some more experience elsewhere and have a second crack if he wants to.
I don't think you can be as successful as he's been without being a phenomenal coach. Its a question of whether he can/wants to step back from what's happened, figure out what went wrong and try to improve. His rep in Canterbury is that he can do that. But maybe too much success has gone to his head and he'll take off overseas convinced that he's always right, a bit like Robbie Deans.
Sounds like he ignored concerns from his senior player group. Not wise
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@Cyclops said in All Blacks 2026:
But maybe too much success has gone to his head
Yeah it feels like that would be the most likely occurrence - just perhaps lost himself up his own arse and went down the wrong track as to where his success actually came from. His "fame" was quite largely based on him being the quirky innovator with the big happy clappy outlook.
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@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2026:
@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2026:
There is a suggestion that Brown might have a release clause in the event that Joseph is the AB coach.
The Trojan Brown ploy!
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@Cyclops said in All Blacks 2026:
Perhaps he struggled with the transition from clearly delineated campaigns to the endless death struggle of test rugby.
not to mention being fragmented too; camps, inbound games, break up, TRC, break up, EOYT, players from different environments, coaching philosophies at NPC/Super etc, whereas at the Crusaders he had time and only his constant message.
He is obviously a good coach, but like some players arent made to play test rugby, maybe Razor isnt made to coach test rugby.
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@Jet said in All Blacks 2026:
@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2026:
I'd love to see the smile on Sotutu's face right now.
Any chance he can cancel that Newcastle contract?
Would he even be interested in doing that and staying now does anyone reckon?
Once he's actually been to Newcastle he's likely to be very keen!
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2026:
He is obviously a good coach, but like some players arent made to play test rugby, maybe Razor isnt made to coach test rugby.
Could well be, feels a bit similar to Deans. Clearly coaching quality matters at Super Rugby or Blackadder would have won a title between Deans and Razor, but also clearly, tier 1 test rugby is a big step up, and a different beast from Super etc.
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@hikastags said in All Blacks 2026:
A rumour i've heard from a current NPC Wellington player:
At some point this season Ardie & Rieko started being left out of the leadership meetings. Can't imagine that went down well if true.
That’s a good thing isn’t it?
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2026:
@Cyclops said in All Blacks 2026:
Perhaps he struggled with the transition from clearly delineated campaigns to the endless death struggle of test rugby.
not to mention being fragmented too; camps, inbound games, break up, TRC, break up, EOYT, players from different environments, coaching philosophies at NPC/Super etc, whereas at the Crusaders he had time and only his constant message.
He is obviously a good coach, but like some players arent made to play test rugby, maybe Razor isnt made to coach test rugby.
Felt like the job just swallowed him whole - too big for him.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2026:
Surely the 2024 review wasnt glowing either, so this latest one was just the petrol on the fire.
I dont think Anthony held back this time; knowing he was out the door.
Probably said what he really thought; as you can do in that type of situation.I know everyone is chattering about the new AB coaching set up; but what about his position, it's quite key.
Thinking Schmidt would be good there. -
@Frank said in All Blacks 2026:
So he's autistic.
Whitelock alluded to that in his book. Didn't matter with the Crusaders so shouldn't have mattered with the ABs
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Just watched the Kirk presser.. Impressed. Thoughtful, honest, respectful to all involved, measured and cut down any rumours.
Get the feeling the whole coach/NZR Board fiasco we've seen in the last few years has been identified and addressed.
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@hikastags said in All Blacks 2026:
I want to know who’s going to replace him. Because if it’s Jospeh, we’re honestly fucked
I've been asking around people I know on the rugby scene all morning for info.
There are rumours swirling around (from the sponsorships side) that it is Jamie Jo & Tony Brown to come in.
Take with a grain of salt as I'm not convinced getting Tony back will be easy.
Who know, he might be enjoying his time in Sa too much!?
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Funnily enough this article surfaced just after the Boks delivered the hiding in Wellington, and although issues in the camp have obviously existed for a while, to me that feels like a fairly significant moment in the timeline... not just for the result, but also for that fact it is probably the last time Brown was in NZ 'in rugby mode'.
He was surely aware of the situation in the All Blacks, so it is no coincidence to me that when Rassie's extension till 2031 was announced, there was no extension announced for Tony Brown - in fact the article from the SA Rugby press release says, "An announcement on the contract negotiations with other members of the Springbok coaching team will be made in due course."
Seems way too coincidental, and generally, where there is smoke there is fire.
