Why NZR should go early to appoint the ABs coach beyond 2023

If there are doubts about the incumbents, and if there is a desire to go in another direction, NZ Rugby needs to design a process with the best chance of involving its preferred options.

New Zealand Rugby should enter 2023 with a clear idea and process about appointing or reappointing the next All Blacks coach in the first half of the year.

Get it done — and get it done early. It will be a significant break from tradition but precedent is only useful if it is still fit for purpose.

The 2019 appointment process was flawed – Jamie Joseph and Dave Rennie didn’t even apply – and while it is acceptable to make a mistake once, doing it twice means that lessons have not been taken on board.

There are pros and cons associated with waiting going early or waiting until after the Rugby World Cup, but the risks are larger with the latter approaching.

It’s problematic because that timeline is so heavily in favour of the incumbent – whether that’s Ian Foster or Joe Schmidt.

There’s nothing wrong with that per se. In fact, if NZ Rugby is certain the current coaching setup is the right one beyond 2023, then it should also reappoint early and be done with it — give certainty not only to the current coaches, but all the other coaches affected by that decision.

However, this is where NZ Rugby needs to have some real integrity and honesty. If there are doubts about the incumbents, and if there is a desire to go in another direction, it needs to design a process with the best chance of involving its preferred options.

And this isn’t just about Crusaders coach Scott Robertson. Japan coach Joseph has to be in that conversation as well, particularly as he would likely link with assistant Tony Brown.

Would Robertson or Joseph wait until the end of the Rugby World Cup to apply? England are hovering around Robertson – and will make an appointment before May – and won’t be the only ones.

In fact, there is an extraordinary amount of

movement going on behind the scenes as coaches and test nations position themselves for 2024 onwards.

England, Scotland, USA, Georgia and potentially the Wallabies and Wales are looking for coaches from a pool that includes, but is not restricted to Robertson, Steve Borthwick, Warren Gatland and Eddie Jones.

NZ Rugby can’t simply sit hopefully above the fray and not get involved.

The approach risks creating a bit of instability at the All Blacks, but they certainly won’t be the only side going to France knowing a change of coach is coming.

Besides, going early would provide a degree of certainty for Super Rugby clubs. If Robertson is going to take a coaching team that includes Jason Holland and Leon MacDonald to the All Blacks in 2024, then the Crusaders, Hurricanes and Blues would surely prefer to know by May at the latest.

A new coaching group isn’t going to make all the All Blacks’ challenges disappear. Highlanders hooker Rhys Marshall – who spent six years with Munster – told Stuff this week that in the eyes of supporters, the All Blacks have gone from a side who could beat anyone despite a relatively small population, to one that should. That’s not realistic.

So, NZ Rugby can’t provide all the answers. However, it can take a leaf out of Jason Ryan’s book. When the forwards coach joined the All Blacks mid-year he fronted and said the All Blacks pack had been dented — look at the improvements that have flowed from that honesty.

Similarly, NZ Rugby should review the 2019 process and acknowledge that it dented them. It’s look in the mirror time.