The Front Page: How close did Scott Robertson get to All Blacks job? | T-10 NEWS

As history would have it, All Blacks coach Ian Foster did manage to hold on to his position despite a tumultuous run of form for the team.

But recent revelations suggest that Crusaders coach Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson came far closer to landing the role than many realise.

NZ Herald rugby writer Gregor Paul tells the Front Page podcast that conversations happening behind the scenes point to the fact that it could have gone either way.

Having spoken to numerous sources, Paul discovered that New Zealand Rugby held a meeting with Robertson to find out what his approach would be to managing the team.

“What they did was approach Robertson, in principle,” says Paul.

“I have to be very clear here. It was ‘in principle’ conversation with him where they said: ‘We’re not offering you job. We’re not telling you that the job is available. However, if the job were to become available, in principle, who would be in your coaching team?'”

Paul says the intention here was to ascertain this plan and compare and contrast it to what was in place at the time.

Once Robertson offered his views, there were concerns that his staff lineup lacked the international experience and seniority to deliver what New Zealand Rugby was looking for.

“There was a view that NZR was really keen to see if Joe Schmidt, who was part of Foster’s coaching team, could fit into Razor’s team… My understanding is that they facilitated a meeting between Joe and Razor to see if there was any prospect of those two being in the same team together.”

Schmidt has a reputation for immense loyalty and this was confirmed in what followed.

“My understanding is that Joe said he felt very uncomfortable about doing it because his loyalty was to Ian Foster. He didn’t really like being asked to go and talk to another potential head coach while he was working with the incumbent,” says Paul.

Whether he was comfortable with this or not, Schmidt’s loyalty would ultimately play a big role in Foster keeping his job.

So where does this leave Robertson, who seems to have done all he can in the Super Rugby format?

“He needs the next challenge,” says Paul.

“There’ll clearly be teams around the world – the likes of England, Wales and Scotland, in particular – who’ve all indicated they’ll be in the market for a new head coach after the World Cup… I would imagine Razor will be given some pretty attractive offers to go and coach one of those nations.”

The prospect of Robertson joining England would be particularly daunting for All Blacks fans.

“It’d be terrifying… They’ve got enormous potential and a guy like Razor could be given a blank cheque to go over there and populate his coaching team with who he wants. He’d be given a blank canvas in the nation with the most players in the world. They’ve got enormous talent sitting there. They just don’t know what to do with it.”

So is it really possible that we might have Kiwis coaching both the English cricket and rugby teams?

Time will tell.

• The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am.

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