It's been a while but I thought I would come here and see what the chat was on this issue. For clarification on my bias I have never been a big fan of Razor. I've always thought that coaches that have success at the crusaders doesn't compare to coaches elsewhere but either way the run the Crusaders were on can't be denied that was something special. The crusaders legacy of success allows them first choice on squad selections. What really put me off Razor was that he undermined foster and there was also information that suggested that he had said no to a potential All Black assistant role stating that it was head coach or nothing. While I may not have been excited at the appointment of Razor as All Black coach I did want him to have success. While at the same time the whole circus around his appointment got a bit absurd. We had media tours and special interviews and the sky media were gushing over him. To me it just looked ridiculous. But the first serious red flag for me was an interview with Scott Hansen where he just came across as a total space cadet, the interviewer was eating it up, it was new and different to them. But to me test rugby is not the place for touchy feely mystical talk. sure you invoke just a little to build culture but at the end of the day its tactics, analysts and preparation. The solid calculated malicious boring stuff and that is not Scott Hansen. It may not necessarily be more interesting to interview someone like Wayne Smith but hes the sort of assistant coach you want. Its all about hard work, technique and tactics.
Then Leon McDonald left. Looking back now that was like the last sane guy in the room heading down the fire exit. It seemed Leon had developed into a very good coach. This probably should have set off more alarm bells than it did. I think Razor probably said the right things at the time to calm peoples fears but the talk was all very political we don't really know the whole story. I can only speculate that maybe he had the same feeling about Hansen as I did and I see Leon as more of that Wayne Smith type coach.
Razors first season was barely a pass mark in terms of results. 2 tests in Africa was always going to be hard but the All Blacks were in control of both games for long spells and seemed to be in cruise control to win before getting overwhelmed late. I accepted those results, the AB's had a big reset that year while South Africa have basically been able to maintain complete continuity. But overall I felt that the All Blacks had not developed a style/structure. I couldn't see an overarching gameplan developing. It seemed like they could hardly string 20-30 minutes of quality play together at any given time.
The next major issue which become emphasized during '25 was that when weaknesses were found in the All Blacks they weren't being addressed. They would persist for weeks at a time. This was very un-All Black like. I think any coaching setup in the modern era you could almost guarantee that win or lose if a weakness was exposed it would be addressed for the next game and often become a point of strength this was still true under Foster.
Towards the end of the season my review was that I felt like we had the players but the main problem is coaching, the players looked like they were struggling within the system they were performing. The team just does not look well coached. I think this was emphasized by the All Blacks XV which may well have played a part in this whole soap Opera. The Jamie Joseph coached All Blacks XV took about 15minutes on the field to click and look like a well drilled well coached side. They played with speed and intensity and clearly looked like they were playing to a gameplan and they were all on the same page. Sure it's the next level down but you could see Josephs distinct imprint on the side and despite the team only being together for a short buildup and tour they did look well coached and all working towards a plan.
When the news broke I posted a message that I was surprised but I did not see a positive trajectory for the side developing over the next 2 years. Then David Kirk had a press release and he basically said the same thing which was funny. I was not aware of anything Savea had posted, if he truly is unhappy with the coaching setup firstly I would not be surprised. Secondly there really would not be any comeback if he and some other senior players had lost confidence in the coaching. Change would be required. I think you could see Savea's frustration at times during the test season.
Some Positives from 25. I think the time was right for Savea to move back to 7. I think we introduced some great new talent like Holland and Roigard. I was also stoked to see Simon Parker to me he looks like the guy we need I've been banging the drums for him for a couple of years now. Also the return of Tupaea I think was really important. And Carter looks to have some potential.
Going to be interesting to see who the replacement is. I think they will move quickly. The 4 ideal options for me are Joseph obviously, Dave Rennie, Clayton McMillan and Tony Brown. Jamie is obviously best positioned and available. The availability of the other coaches is a question but I would bet most/all of them have clauses in their contracts that allows them an out to take up an All Black role. least likely is Tony Brown, he is less likely to have such an out from the spring boks. But it does seem like brown does want to be involved with the AB's with Joseph some day and now could be that moment. Vern Cotter is a potential assistant. Scott Hansen simply has to go the big question will be weather Jason Ryan will survive, he probably comes away with some respect intact and has a shot at staying on but I think odds are against it. He did make a positive impact when he joined Foster but the last 2 seasons have not been good enough.
