Next All Black's coaching team

[Lizard]

It’s Fozzie. Least surprising news all year.

[zer0]

So much for Foster's "heavyweight support crew". I assume that Plumtree is the "rock star of the game" amongst them. He's a good coach and I have absolutely no problem with his as forwards coach, but that's pushing it a bit.

[cashead]

So the assistants are likely to be Plumtree, McLeod, David Hill, Brad Mooar and Greg Feek.

[Puja]

This feels a little bit like when Leicester went all out to do a worldwide search for a world-class coach and ended up coming back with Matt O'Connor.

Do you guys expect him to keep your good form going or are you a tad worried?

Puja

[zer0]

[cashead]

This feels a little bit like when Leicester went all out to do a worldwide search for a world-class coach and ended up coming back with Matt O'Connor.

Do you guys expect him to keep your good form going or are you a tad worried?

Puja

Success at Super Rugby level is no guarantee of success at the test level - we all agree that Eddie Jones is a great coach and all, but have a look at how his last stint at Super Rugby went, or heck, Rudi Straeuli, who was the most successful South African Super Rugby coach to date when he was appointed and he's one of the single worst Springbok coaches ever. And let's not forget that Ewen McKenzie and Michael Cheika both won Super Rugby titles with the Reds and the Waratahs. How'd they go as Wallabies coaches, again?

Besides, Foster's tenure at the Chiefs had some peaks and troughs, but it can not be overlooked that he never had the best cattle to work with, and at their best, the Chiefs were built up by him from also-rans into genuine contenders. At the very least, the guy should've earned some significant goodwill, and the assistants he's got lined up (Schmidt is an unfortunate loss, but Mooar, Plumtree and Feek are great calls) are perfectly fine, with proven track records. He certainly deserves a hell of a lot better than the undignified wailing and gnashing of teeth that we're seeing at the moment.

[cashead]

Just bumping this thread to comment on the conspicuous silence about other teams appointing head coaches with literally no head coaching experience like Ireland, or the expected appointment of Jacques Nienaber as Springboks coach (albeit with Rassie still overseeing things as Director of Rugby).

[Cameo]

Okay, there's lots of talk on the SMB about us maybe looking for a new coach in the summer. Scott Robertson's name comes up a lot. Two questions for you guys really.

1. Do you think he'd do a good job with more limited resources. He's clearly done very well at the Crusaders but where does he rank compared to some of the other NZ coaches (e.g. Dave Rennie) who are a bit more experienced?

2. Any chance he would come to Scotland? My thinking is that he was passed over for the NZ job and the best way of improving his CV would be a successful job as national coach. Scotland looks like the only option that may come up soon (could start after the Super Rugby season).

Obviously this is all moot once Finn and Toony make up and we win our next three games then beat SA and NZ in the summer

[cashead]

It's hard to gauge how good Razor is because he's been working with dominant sides like Canterbury and the Crusaders, so at the international level, I'd rather see him included as part of a team, rather than as the head of it at the moment. It think what was telling was that that the team that Foster has put around himself is top notch, even if he wasn't able to get Schmidt as an assistant (Mooar is not a bad choice at all), while what we do know about whom Razor was going for was nowhere near as interesting or exciting.

I don't think he'd be averse to going with Scotland, as getting some international time seems to be a job requirement nowadays.

Also re: Finn, honestly, I don't think he should be considered or even allowed anywhere near the national side until he takes ownership of his actions. He's not owed a fucking jersey and no one forced him to break team protocol and skip training sessions. He can take that "oh woe is me, I am the true victim here, pity me" shit, and fuck off to Paris with it for the rest of his career, the entitled cunt.

[Cameo]

It's hard to gauge how good Razor is because he's been working with dominant sides like Canterbury and the Crusaders, so at the international level, I'd rather see him included as part of a team, rather than as the head of it at the moment. It think what was telling was that that the team that Foster has put around himself is top notch, even if he wasn't able to get Schmidt as an assistant (Mooar is not a bad choice at all), while what we do know about whom Razor was going for was nowhere near as interesting or exciting.

I don't think he'd be averse to going with Scotland, as getting some international time seems to be a job requirement nowadays.

Also re: Finn, honestly, I don't think he should be considered or even allowed anywhere near the national side until he takes ownership of his actions. He's not owed a fucking jersey and no one forced him to break team protocol and skip training sessions. He can take that "oh woe is me, I am the true victim here, pity me" shit, and fuck off to Paris with it for the rest of his career, the entitled cunt.

Cheers, here's hoping he's not needed in Scotland but would bring some fun back (which I thought we had until around 12 months ago!)

You're also probably right on the last bit. I have sympathy for the unhappiness in camp and general frustration but the flashpoint seems to be self inflicted. Hopefully he can come back and apologise after the tournament.