Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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Networkn
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#3453277 15-Jan-2026 11:43

Earbanean:

What, Ardie Savea is sulking because he wasn't selected? Sounds like he's not the only senior player with the negative feedback either.

No, that wasn't a summary of the entirety of the issues inside the All Blacks. That was addressing one of the many rumors which are swirling around.

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#3453298 15-Jan-2026 13:08

Interesting reading.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/581203/the-one-thing-everyone-s-missing-in-the-all-blacks-coaching-situation

tukapa1

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#3453322 15-Jan-2026 13:57

Razor gone... The great redeemer didn't end up redeeming much.

Bet Mounga is feeling a little uncomfortable right now.

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#3453324 15-Jan-2026 13:59

tukapa1:

Razor gone... The great redeemer didn't end up redeeming much.

Bet Mounga is feeling a little uncomfortable right now.

What an unpleasant set of comments to make.

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#3453325 15-Jan-2026 14:01

networkn:

Heres my predictions:

1) Razor will be retained, but will be tasked with a greater tactical role.

What a difference a day makes.

tukapa1

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#3453327 15-Jan-2026 14:04

networkn:

tukapa1:

Razor gone... The great redeemer didn't end up redeeming much.

Bet Mounga is feeling a little uncomfortable right now.

What an unpleasant set of comments to make.

How so?

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#3453328 15-Jan-2026 14:05

tukapa1:

How so?

The fact you claim not to know, says a lot really.

Earbanean

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#3453329 15-Jan-2026 14:06

tukapa1:

Razor gone... The great redeemer didn't end up redeeming much.

Bet Mounga is feeling a little uncomfortable right now.

Yep, agreed. And from the opposite side of the coin, how will Hoskins Sotutu be feeling right now?

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#3453331 15-Jan-2026 14:07

tukapa1:

What a difference a day makes.

Yeah, turns out I was wrong, congrats on pointing it out.

I guess we can wait for the next coach to be appointed so we can look forward to more snarky negativity about everything they are supposedly not doing right. It's been a fun last 6 years.

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#3453335 15-Jan-2026 14:21

Maybe worth pointing out that we're talking about a sports team here. We're not discussing Gaza, Ukraine, Iran, or any other important issue. It just doesn't really matter.

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#3453513 16-Jan-2026 07:05

I get no joy from this. Deeply worried about the team at this point in the cycle. Ironically through the EOYT selections were better and more in line with what Robertson was meant to be doing from day one.

Always a hard sell after dismissing talk of the team's technical and tactical issues that the head coach is there more for 'culture' when it turns out there are massive issues with senior and established players behind the scenes and the vibes are apparently off.

That's after being told we were in a 'rebuilding era' despite picking the same players who were struggling on form to justify being included in the first place over and over again, which only seemed to change relatively recently.

If Razor lost the dressing room then it was never going to work, it's as simple as that.

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Earbanean

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#3453522 16-Jan-2026 08:17

This is by far the best analysis of the Razor sacking, and the reasons for it, that I have read so far:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks-under-scott-robertson-inside-the-flaws-that-led-to-his-downfall-opinion/premium/IRUGCGJHU5ELZGYIDMMZWSVLTM/

Sorry, it might be paywalled though.

LookingUp

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#3453528 16-Jan-2026 08:51

I agree with GV27, and am also deeply concerned about where the team is at. What I don't get is how Robertson went from being a coach that seemingly couldn't lose, with an undefeated string of NPC and then Super titles, to the dysfunctional ABs. Canterbury and the Crusaders had a culture, but you simply don't see that with the current ABs. What was missing? Was it that with the ABs he had less control over player selection and cultural fit, or are there too many big egos in the squad? It would be REALLY interesting to know where the Razor and Leon McDonald relationship failed, as that could well have been the first symptom of the current disease.

Watching team selections over the last couple of years it felt like the NZ public were selecting the team on a popular, parochial, and sentimental basis, and the big calls weren't being made. They were getting there, but it took far too long to deal with the backline woes, and some had far too many chances to prove they were still up to it but failed. It's as if they felt they needed to retain some for their "experience" after we lost players following the last World Cup, when they maybe should have been a bit more brutal in the pruning process to let more young growth come through. BB for example has been way past his best for a couple of years now, Rieko has been a failure at Centre, and Jordy has been solid but rarely exceptional at 12, maybe because of dysfunction on either side of him, but maybe because he's not playing in his best position.

In the forward pack there's also something missing - brute force and mongrel. We seem obsessed with "star" players who score tries, without consideration of the need for less glamorous workhorses who are required to secure the ball in the first place. Who cares how many tries a No. 8 scores in NPC or Super rugby if it's at the expense of their core role and the bigger picture, and their team still loses? Showing my Canterbury colours here, but I'd pick a Tom Christie who tackles everything that moves but doesn't score many tries over a flash Harry who seagulls any day, but it seems there has been more focus on ball carriers than defensive team players. It may also be a factor in the likes of Scott Barret's more recent AB performances, as maybe he isn't getting the same level of support from those around him?

Tactically I think our problem is relatively simple - we have lost confidence in our ability to retain possession, hence all the kicking rather than risking the loss of possession in contact. Arbitrary refereeing of the breakdown doesn't help, as it can be a lottery, but I think we've been missing a fetcher or two. We are too slow and not committing sufficiently to breakdowns to dominate, preferring to hang off and fan out rather than secure the pill and suck in the opposition forwards, which in itself creates more space for the backs.

Then there's the Ardie question - undoubtably a great player and one of the few automatic selections on talent and passion, but not (IMHO) a captain, and by the sounds of it, maybe a destabalising influence in the background? I'm not convinced he can manage a team or a ref as well as he could, and while inspirational at times, that's not enough when the plan is not working.

Finally - is it professionalism that's causing the problem? At NPC and even Super level, players are motivated to be part of a winning team in order to make the ABs, as that's the best way to get exposure. However, once they get to the ABs it's almost as if some are playing more for themselves than for the team, with an eye to the lucrative opportunities they have elsewhere as soon as they have AB on their CV. You can't blame them, so maybe we need to look at how we better manage it? Realising that we can't pay European salaries this is a real challenge, and could be our single biggest issue while we exclude players playing off-shore in order to protect our local game.

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#3453529 16-Jan-2026 08:53

I really dislike Gregor Pauls writing most of the time. However, despite some of his unneccessarily unkind comments in his latest article (A lot of people are insensitive to the fact a guys coaching dream of leading the AB's is in tatters, and at the end of the day, he was a guy doing what he thought was best), there are some observations there which seem to indicate that perhaps Scott Robertson was the right choice to go.

I had thought Hansen would be the one to go. It seems to boil down to a failure to cope with and get the division of labour right and some mishandling of important communication matters.

For the record, I don't believe he is a bad coach, nor that his success was a fluke. I don't see it ending any chance of him having an international coaching career, though I imagine things will be a bit raw for him for a bit. I really hope he's OK and his people are getting around him.

I wish the press would stop with the cruel plays on razor jokes, what a bunch of muppets.

Earbanean

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#3453543 16-Jan-2026 09:39

LookingUp:

In the forward pack there's also something missing - brute force and mongrel. We seem obsessed with "star" players who score tries, without consideration of the need for less glamorous workhorses who are required to secure the ball in the first place. Who cares how many tries a No. 8 scores in NPC or Super rugby if it's at the expense of their core role and the bigger picture, and their team still loses?

I totally disagree with that in terms of Razor and Jason Ryan's selections. Scott Parker and Fabian Holland are bother unflashy, non-try scoring, hard workers (maybe not "mongrel"). Both were elevated into the ABs in the last year. Rather than being "obsessed with "star" players", Razor/Ryan have actually shifted away from more flashy players like Akira Ioane, Hoskins Sotutu etc.

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