Scott Robertson has revealed that his dream coaching scenario involves coaching New Zealand and another country to Rugby World Cup success, saying the achievement would “transcend”.
Speaking to The Rugby Pod, a podcast with former Scotland international Jim Hamilton, Robertson, who lost his bid for the All Blacks job in late 2019 to current under-fire coach Ian Foster, was open about his ambitions to achieve something no other coach has managed.
“I want to win a Rugby World Cup but I want to win it with two different countries,” he said. “I haven’t said it publicly before, but I have now.
“I think that would transcend. I think it would be great to win a World Cup with your own country, and that’s what I want to do, but I’d love to do it with another country. I’m not sure in which order - that’s not my decision that’s for others, but I’d love to win two with different expectations, a different culture.
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“You’ve got to adapt to the group and country and get the best out of them so when people look back they ask ‘how did he do that, that’s pretty special. He’s won six or seven – multiple – championships with his club and then gone away and done it. People would say he’s got the group, people will play for him’.”
Earlier in the interview, which was recorded before his assistant and friend at the Crusaders Jason Ryan joined the All Blacks when replacing the sacked John Plumtree as forwards coach, Robertson said: “I’m open… if New Zealand Rugby want me, great. If another country – I probably wouldn’t go to another club now. I really want to go to a World Cup. I want to go to a couple. I’m 47, I’ll be 52 by the time the next World Cup comes around [in Australia in 2027]. I want to go to two or three and really test myself, push myself. I’m open, yeah.”
Robertson, who has won six championships in six years at the Crusaders since he started in 2017, is contracted to the franchise for one more year and will look for a move after that or probably sooner if he is offered an international job.
No matter what happens next year, he will be regarded as the most successful Super Rugby coach ever, a former All Blacks loose forward who went straight into coaching once his playing days were over and who has proven himself to be a coaching visionary.
Robertson said he met with his friend Eddie Jones, England’s head coach, in Sydney ahead of England’s recent third Test victory over Australia but it wasn’t job-related.
“What I learned from last time with the All Blacks stuff is that you have to keep your options open.
“It’s a professional game… and it’s one job, and if someone doesn’t give it to you, you have to think differently. You have to think about what other opportunities are out there. I’m coming into my seventh year as the Crusaders coach next year. I’ve loved it all, it’s been incredible, but no one lasts in a job for ever.”
Robertson, along with former Crusaders assistant Ronan O’Gara, will coach the Barbarians against a New Zealand XV coached by Leon MacDonald in November.
Blues head coach MacDonald, also a former Crusaders assistant alongside Robertson, continues to be linked with a role with the All Blacks as the replacement for sacked backs coach Brad Mooar.
Asked about the increasingly physical nature of Northern Hemisphere rugby and how that has helped close the gap on the All Blacks as evidenced by Ireland’s recent series win here, Robertson said it was a “fundamental” part of the game.
“From a Crusaders point of view we put a massive, massive emphasis on it. We haven’t had a [lineout maul] try scored against us in six years. I pride ourselves on that. Ourselves and the Brumbies are the top two in terms of defending maul tries [in Super Rugby]. Jason Ryan is an exceptional forwards coach and has done a lot of work with [Leinster coach] Robin McBryde - he’s always reaching out to the Northern Hemisphere to find out how we can get better and stay a step ahead of the rest.
“At international level it’s a fundamental. You have to have players who love it. It has to be so well coached. If someone is pushing over your line from a maul it’s so psychologically damaging to yourself.”
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Asked about the coaches he’d like to work with, Robertson mentioned Mike Catt, a former England international, due to his development of a short passing game with Ireland, former Wales hooker McBryde, and Leicester’s Steve Borthwick, a former England lock.
Robertson said he believed France were rightly considered favourites to win next year’s World Cup, but that Ireland would be a huge threat.
He added: “You need a lot of things to go right to win a championship. You need your best players to be healthy, you need to be on a good run, you need to have confidence in your group, you need a good defensive group – that shows the care side of it – and you have to have leaders with experience that deal with pressure.
“But you also need a really aligned coaching staff that the boys trust. You can see that with Ireland, you can see that with France - that’s probably why they’re the favourites, but it’s a World Cup. You’ll have big moments and upsets if you don’t prepare well. You have to have game-breakers, you have to have absolutely genuine try scorers that can create or finish and the All Blacks have got those for sure.
“You have to be slightly ahead of the trend and I think that’s the art of being a successful coach.”
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