NZ Rugby chairwoman Dame Patsy Reddy, Scott Robertson and NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson speak to the media. Photo / Mark Mitchell
NZ Rugby chairwoman Dame Patsy Reddy, Scott Robertson and NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson speak to the media. Photo / Mark Mitchell
OPINION:
At the end of a massive week for Scott Robertson his Christchurch fans turned the Biblical saying that a prophet is honoured everywhere except in his own hometown on its head. There was a standing ovation as he and his coaching staff walked to the coaches’ box in thesouth stand at Orangetheory Stadium before the Crusaders played the Brumbies.
After shoddy treatment last year by New Zealand Rugby, Robertson now has an open book when he takes over next year.
There’s a four-year contract, with no potential for a change of heart at the two-year mark. He has, I believe, a free hand, and time, to pick his assistants. In brief, everything a coach might want to embrace the job and not be sidetracked.
There was almost universal acclaim for Robertson’s appointment, with the only caveats the lack of transparency and public relations street smarts from NZR.
They must have known there would be questions about when Ian Foster was told. Couldn’t they have trusted him to keep a secret for 12 hours, called him in Paris, and told him Robertson was going to be appointed? It would have been common decency for a start and signalled to the public that the “100 per cent support” they swear they give Foster isn’t a hollow promise.
Why was there embarrassed shuffling about whether they had talked to the only other real candidate, Jamie Joseph? Surely they must have. But by not saying they had at least a Zoom discussion with Joseph they left open speculation that they ignored him, which would basically amount to a dereliction of duty.
Whoever gives NZR chief executive Mark Robinson his media advice needs to have an urgent meeting with his chairperson, Dame Patsy Reddy, who showed how nimble her mind is by jumping in and saying, when Robertson was asked if he’d breakdance after All Black games, “Only when he wins the World Cup.”
Meanwhile, on the field, four talking points from Super Rugby Pacific.
Man on fire
As most players do, Crusaders wing Leicester Fainga’anuku deflected questions about his stellar form after the Crusaders’ 35-17 victory over the Brumbies. He conceded he was “happy” with how his game was going at the moment.
Indeed. After exposing the Blues’ defences last weekend, he scored two tries from identical set moves against the Brumbies. Hitting a pass from Codie Taylor at speed after five minutes, he brushed off three tacklers for his first try. Then, at 57 minutes, did even better for his second, spinning and fending his way past five, count them, five, baffled defenders. At 23 he’s played just two tests for the All Blacks. By the end of this year, it’d be amazing if he wasn’t a regular in the black jersey.
Crusaders George Bower and Leicester Fainga’anuku celebrate after their side's Super Rugby Pacific win over the Hurricanes at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium on February 19 last year. Photo / Getty Images)
The casualty ward is packed
The Crusaders will be approaching NZR for dispensation to play captain and lock Scott Barrett, due for an All Black rest, next week against the Reds in Brisbane.
Coach Robertson noted that his happy news now is when the Crusaders’ medical staff tell him a player has recovered quicker than anticipated. With Sam Whitelock recovering from a broken hand, and Ethan Blackadder leaving the field on Friday night with a strained calf muscle, there were times when pressure the Brumbies put on the almost decimated Crusaders lineout paid off. The Reds are mid-table so far this year, and you feel the Crusaders will definitely need the experience and lineout talents of Barrett in Brisbane.
Sam Whitelock of the Crusaders. Photo / www.photosport.nz
That’s why coaches look old before their time
The Chiefs deserved to beat the Waratahs 24-14 in Sydney, but if Tahs coach Darren Coleman cried himself to sleep on Friday night, don’t think less of him.
There were plenty of errors from the Chiefs too, but when it came to ruining promising attacks with embarrassing, primary-school-level mishandling, the Tahs took the sort of firm grip on the Fumble Trophy they couldn’t manage with the ball. But the Chiefs are still the team to beat, and winning ugly is a lot better than losing ugly.
That’s the way you do it
Luckily most of the game in Sydney was so forgettable it’ll soon be out of most minds. But there was a classy moment to cherish just four minutes from the end when Chief Shaun Stevenson glided into the line, grubber kicked perfectly, and wing Emoni Narawa was able to tumble over the line for the try.
