Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read has thrown his weight behind Scott Robertson’s bid for the national head coaching role.
The support from Read, a former Crusader, probably won’t come as a surprise to most but in further comments made on Sky’s The Breakdown programme last night he added a little spice by saying the process has not been handled well by New Zealand Rugby.
Read’s comments qualify as significant given recently retired All Blacks captains rarely criticise their former paymaster.
And they are the latest in an ongoing soap opera given new life late last week when incumbent Ian Foster sparked a media frenzy by publicly stating the case for the head coach to be announced after the World Cup, which kicks off in September.
“The whole thing hasn’t been handled well,” Read said.
“New Zealand Rugby - really all this stuff should be happening behind closed doors.”
Late last year, New Zealand Rugby boss Mark Robinson said his organisation would break with policy and appoint a new coach before the global tournament in France.
Crusaders coach Robertson and Jamie Joseph, who currently coaches Japan, are considered front-runners for Foster’s job after a series of inconsistent results since he replaced Sir Steve Hansen after the 2019 World Cup.
“It shouldn’t be aired what both coaches are saying - what everyone is talking about but hopefully we get to the bottom of it and through it soon," Read said.
Read was also referring to Robertson's salvo recently when he said he was confident the process would be resolved in the “next few weeks”.
Foster's response came out of the blue and would have been directed at NZ Rugby’s board now that Wales, England and Australia all have head coaches locked in on long-term contracts.
The feeling from his camp may be that since there were fewer jobs available, Robertson and Joseph and company had suddenly lost a lot of leverage in terms of a quick decision.
Foster said the appointment process would be a huge distraction ahead of the World Cup, but Read said the players “won’t care” as long as the approach was right.
“Players don’t want distractions but from an honest players’ perspective, I think they won’t mind,” he said.
“I think the way it has been dealt with at the moment, there are distractions everywhere.
“Just go in and name the new coach or don’t, it is as simple as that.
“For the players, it is not going to derail them if they name the All Black coach next week.”
And Read said he doubted the saga had affected Robertson’s ability to coach, or the Crusaders, following their shock 31-10 thrashing at the hands of the Chiefs in Christchurch at the weekend.
“Razor is Razor.
“From my point of view, I think Razor is the next All Blacks coach. You know, it’s probably what should be happening after the World Cup.”
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