Back the Crusaders into a corner and they will fight their way out of it. It would be a gross exaggeration to say their season was hanging by a thread when they came to Auckland.
In a 12-team competition where eight progress to the knock-out rounds, there’s generous leeway to suffer the odd catastrophe and still be crowned champions.
But set against the context of their recent history, the Crusaders were staring at something worrying as they ran out at Eden Park.
Never before in Robertson’s coaching tenure have they lost more than three games in a campaign. So there they were, potentially looking at a third defeat just four games into 2023.
Questions were being quietly asked about the defending champions and the focus of their charismatic head coach.
Was his head in the game, or had his focus been diverted by the impending announcement about who will coach the All Blacks in 2024?
There was the silly business on the eve of the season kicking off when he embarrassed his employer by suggesting they were about to do something they weren’t, and after the Crusaders melted in the Fijian heat in round three, the once infallible Robertson had a few thinking he had lost his Midas touch.
There was also reason to wonder, given the way 2023 was shaping, whether the departed Jason Ryan - who had been Robertson’s assistant in each of the six title-winning years between 2017 and 2022 - had been the real brains of the operation all along.
But the thing about Robertson is that he may occasionally be down but he’s never out and teams that he coaches have this rare and treasured ability to win the big moments and the big games.
Whenever he’s been under pressure to mastermind a victory, he’s found a way to do it and when New Zealand Rugby comes to decide who they want to be the next All Blacks coach, that’s a quality they should be wary about overlooking.
Ethan Blackadder of the Crusaders is congratulated on scoring a try against the Blues. Photo / Photosport
There’s a lot that goes into being the All Blacks coach and it matters who he has around him.
It would be dangerous, however, to not keep coming back to Robertson’s record and even more dangerous not to value his undisputed right to be seen as a winner in the sporting realm.
Several senior All Blacks accosted NZR chief executive Mark Robinson in South Africa last year to make a passionate defence of retaining Ian Foster as head coach.
They all knew that the national body was on the verge of dumping Foster and promoting Robertson and so their testimony in support of the former was interpreted by some as a lack of confidence in the latter.
Such an interpretation never made sense as several of those same players who lobbied to retain Foster have played their hearts out for Robertson since 2017.
What speaks loudest about their true feelings is the six consecutive titles the Crusaders have won.
That sort of success can’t be fluked. To win so often takes a depth of conviction about the quality of the environment and the ability of the people running it and Robertson’s no-excuse culture is one that obviously resonates.
Three games into Super Rugby and there were doubts brewing about the Crusaders. Four games in and it would now take a brave soul to bet against them winning their seventh consecutive title.
Their horrendous injury toll will surely lessen and, as the weather turns, Christchurch will become the least hospitable venue in the competition.
Robertson may not have any international experience, but no one could possibly mount a compelling argument to say he’s not deserving of promotion and the opportunity to coach test rugby.
And that’s another serious consideration for NZR as they weigh up who to appoint as the next All Blacks coach.
If Robertson is overlooked after winning the title in each year he has been with the Crusaders, what does that say about the validity of the domestic coaching pathway?
Super Rugby isn’t by any means the perfect high-performance testing ground, but it is the only testing ground New Zealand offers for aspiring professional coaches.
If Robertson can’t progress to the All Blacks given what he has achieved, then no one can and NZR will have sent a message to its coaching fraternity that they need to head offshore if they are serious about wanting to coach the national team.
