All Blacks head coach Ian Foster and assistant coach John Plumtree. Photo / Getty
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster and assistant coach John Plumtree. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
There is an alternative universe where the current All Blacks coaching team is Ian Foster, Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown.
That's the group that would have been appointed in the universe where New Zealand Rugby had adopted a pro-active, dynamic approach to replacing former head coach Steve Hansen.
Hansen,contracted until the end of 2019, announced in December 2018 that he would not be seeking re-appointment after the World Cup in Japan.
But despite Hansen giving his employer more than one year's notice that he would be standing down, NZR refused to begin the process of finding their next coach until after the 2019 World Cup.
It was a giant error of judgement by NZR – they thought the allure of the All Blacks was considerably greater than it was and the big names in global coaching would hold off making career decisions to gamble everything on landing a job in New Zealand.
Who knows why they waited so long to make a decision – maybe the national body wanted to wield its power as the owner of something special and then show off to the rest of the world about the volume of candidates it had to wade through.
But the consequences of that vanity play are being felt now because the All Blacks got the best available and not necessarily the best coaching team.
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster and assistant coach John Plumtree. Photo / Getty
If the process had started in early 2019, Foster would have presented himself as head coach, with Joseph in charge of the forwards and Brown masterminding the attack.
It would have been a team where all three had Super Rugby head coach experience and all three had international exposure - Joseph and Brown had been with Japan since 2016.
Joseph, a world-renowned hard taskmaster, feels like he's precisely what the All Blacks forwards need right now, while Brown is one of the most creative and innovative thinkers in the game.
These two took Japan to the quarter-finals of the last World Cup – which says everything about their ability to instil hard edges and clever rugby.
But while NZR sat on its hands, overestimating the power of the All Blacks brand, Japan put huge offers in front of Joseph and Brown to stay for another four years. And they took them, because what else were they to do? Say no to contract extensions that had life-changing money attached and risk everything on Foster winning the All Blacks job in December 2019?
Another strong candidate was former Chiefs coach Dave Rennie. He got his email from NZR in mid-2019, said that's lovely, but signed with Rugby Australia who had flown to Glasgow and put a hard contract offer on the table.
NZR is reaping what it has sewn and while the nation is desperate to make Foster the fall-guy for the current plight of the All Blacks, his employer must carry a considerable burden of responsibility here for running the clock down the way they did and compromising the outcome.
Foster does not have the wider coaching teams he wanted, but ultimately the one he was forced to scramble together.
What can't get lost at this particular juncture - a year out from the next World Cup - is that if NZR decides that it needs wholesale personnel change in the All Blacks coaching team, it could be repeating the same mistake of appointing the best available rather than necessarily the best coaches.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson celebrates winning the Super Rugby Pacific final. Photo / Photosport
The drums beat loudly now for Crusaders coach Scott Robertson. And while he's earned the right to be promoted and is a fascinating prospect, it's not clear who would join him as part of his wider team.
Presumably his Crusaders forwards coach Jason Ryan and Blues head coach Leon MacDonald – as those two were on his bid team in 2019 - and maybe the newly arrived Joe Schmidt would stay on board.
But the question NZR must ask is whether the smarter plan is to cobble together an interim coaching group – that may include Foster, Schmidt, Ryan and ideally Wayne Smith once his commitment to the Black Ferns ends later this year – to take the All Blacks through to the World Cup, and early next year conduct a process to appoint a long-term coaching group post the 2023 tournament.
Because while Robertson appeals as the best alternative right now, would he be a stronger candidate with a stronger team than a Foster, Joseph, Brown combination or a Rennie-Milton Haig partnership or a Vern Cotter-Schmidt led team if they were all available?
The status quo seems untenable given performances and results, but any changes need to be carefully considered to avoid repeating the mistake of 2019.
It's almost unthinkable, but it may be necessary to send a new, interim coaching group to the World Cup next year on a free pass almost – where they travel to France only with hope rather than expectation and the giant reset comes in 2024 with a view to the All Blacks retaking the world summit all the way through to 2027.
