New Zealand Rugby Team Watch
- Thread starter Hugh Jarse
- Start date
zer0
Greg Davis (50)
Would it? If it's true, then he's kept it to himself and is getting on with his job without any fuss. And he was still selected to be XV captain by Jamie Joseph who was, coincidentally, the other AB HC candidate from 2023.
Meanwhile Robertson got his job despite publicly undermining Foster.
Wilson
David Wilson (68)
I might be unclear on the timing but it sounds like he turned down the EOYT selection after the AB XV side played?
As quiet as it may have been kept publicly it will be very much known within NZRU (assuming it has happened as rumoured) and I'd expect any player who turned down a chance at national selection like that to not be looked at favorably, at least not without a very good reason. I don't think not respecting the coach and current setup is good enough on it's own, however valid a position that maybe.
He's contracted through to 2027 so it may all blow over by then, but assuming Razor is still coaching at the world cup Papali’i might find his contract negotiations with NZRU a bit difficult that year, particularly given Razor at least is unlikely to bother trying to select him again if he has been told no so bluntly this time around.
KiwiM
Colin Windon (37)
I think there's a really high likelihood that Razor gets canned before the RWC the way things are heading. He has an extremely difficult South African tour next year - if the ABs carry on the way they are they are in big danger of getting spanked in that series. NZR will have a new CEO by then and already have a new Chairman.
waiopehu oldboy
Rocky Elsom (76)
Linked article is paywalled but goes on:
But that’s symbolic of the deeper mess New Zealand rugby has got itself into over the past decade in the key position, when the template left by late-career Dan Carter - a tactically astute playmaker and strong goalkicker - has been chipped away by the erroneous belief that hybrid No 10-15s are the way to go.
That scrambled thinking has been a strategic error and has left the All Blacks effectively hanging for the return of Richie Mo’unga to lift their Rugby World Cup hopes.
Mo’unga’s comeback next year will at least provide the All Blacks with a specialist in the position, but the pecking order beneath him looks to be in a state of flux and it’s quite possible that New Zealand rugby doesn’t actually know what it’s looking for or has gone so far down the wrong track that it’s too late to turn around.
Is Beauden Barrett a No 10 or 15? Ditto Damian McKenzie. And will Love, Josh Jacomb or Rivez Reihana even be the starting No 10s at their Super Rugby clubs next year?
The fact that no one can answer any of those questions with certainty is a huge concern, especially as the New Zealand rugby system is supposedly set up in a centralised fashion to prevent this sort of muddied thinking.
To be fair to Love, if he starts for the All Blacks against Cardiff, he has to be the Hurricanes No 10 next year come hell or high water.
The idea that anyone can consistently play No 10 at test level without years of seeing the pictures at the next level down isn’t just naive, it’s setting the player in question up to fail.
The other part of the No 10 issue that is troublesome is that New Zealand rugby as a whole has decided that it wants run-first, X-factor No 10s without the alternative model ever being tested.
What would the All Blacks have looked like over the past two tests with a No 10 with a big boot, tactical smarts and a simple desire to get them into the right areas?
The simple answer is: better. And yet, when this type of player - Harry Plummer - won Super Rugby with the Blues in 2024, there was still this underlying, borderline-arrogant narrative that he “wasn’t an All Blacks No 10”.
Plummer got five minutes off the bench for the All Blacks against the Wallabies in Sydney last year and was never seen again.
But he was just included in the Top 14 team of the month for October for his exploits for Clermont in France, so the 27-year-old can play and his retention would have at least provided the All Blacks with some tactical variety at No 10 - the possibility of a plan B.
KiwiM
Colin Windon (37)
It's refreshing to see the media finally come around on some of these issues.
waiopehu oldboy
Rocky Elsom (76)
Seems to me that article has been sitting in Cully's top drawer for a while just waiting for it to ripen so to speak.
KiwiM
Colin Windon (37)
His performance in the 2024 Super Rugby playoffs screamed test rugby style 10 play - absolutely infuriating he didn't get a look to at least see whether it would translate. I have similar frustrations with Rivez Reihana this year.
zer0
Greg Davis (50)
It does say that indeed. I'm just unliterate.
All leading to the Surfer Bro Robertson vs. Stern Vern thunderdome contract negotiations.
Dan54
David Wilson (68)
Whether we like it or not, there is no way I can imagine Razor getting canned before WC. To be replaced by who? The man I always wanted to get gig is Highlander head coach, and one of big reasons he would be good is the premise that Brown would be with him, who is tied in with SA until 2027'
I reckon the end of year tour was always a 3 from 4 tests was always considered a pass mark anyway.
Strewthcobber
Phil Kearns (64)
At some point NZ is going to have an actually poor year, and the reaction from their supporters is going to be a sight to behold.