One person conspicuously absent from Super Rugby Pacific’s triumphant “super round” at Christchurch’s new stadium was their most successful and beloved head coach Scott Robertson.
Robertson, who until January was the head coach of the All Blacks, led the Crusaders to seven titles in seven years at the franchise’s temporary stadium in the suburb of Addington.
A who’s who of former Crusaders coaches and players gathered on the field before the team’s inaugural match at the sparkling new arena on Friday night including Vance Stewart, their first ever head coach.
Former coach Robbie Deans was there – as were former high-profile captains Richie McCaw, Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock. But the man known as Razor was not.
Robertson has kept a remarkably low profile since his axing from the All Blacks at the start of the year.
Sources say Robertson has spent time overseas and has not been doing any coaching – including at the Sumner club near his home where he cut his teeth as a coach.
Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge told 1News today that Robertson was invited to go on the 10-minute “hikoi” from the city’s Bridge of Remembrance to the stadium and attend the match but elected not to.
“He actually sent me a picture text of his knee which had just been operated on,” Mansbridge told 1News. “So, he’s had the other one done and was laid up.
“He was definitely invited and he was missed,” Mansbridge added. “I would have loved for him to be there and I’m sure many others would have too – even if he was in a wheelchair.”
Robertson, a 51-year-old who played 23 Tests at loose forward for the All Blacks, has had several operations on both knees but Mansbridge accepted that Robertson’s absence was potentially due to more than has latest surgery.
Robertson did not reply to a 1News request for comment.
A larger-than-life character who celebrated his biggest wins by breakdancing, Robertson has clearly taken the dismissal from the top job extremely hard. But few, perhaps apart from former head coach Todd Blackadder, deserved a greater welcome at a stadium the city has spent 15 years waiting for.
Blackadder – who led the team from 2009-2016 – had to endure the first earthquake in September, 2010, then the Pike River mine disaster on the West Coast two months later, before the big quake in February, 2011, which effectively changed everything and put the team on the road for the season.
The former All Blacks captain won three consecutive Super Rugby championships as Crusaders skipper from 1998-2000 but failed to win one as coach, although he got mightily close.
His 2011 Crusaders, who did not play a game in Christchurch all season due to a lack of a suitable home stadium, fell at the final hurdle against the Reds in Brisbane and got extremely close in Sydney three years later.
On that occasion, Blackadder – currently coaching Japanese club Toshiba – got to within a late, erroneous, penalty awarded by referee Craig Joubert in the grand final against the Waratahs. Joubert later apologised for his breakdown decision against McCaw.
It is understood Blackadder will make his first visit to the stadium when the All Blacks host France in the Nations Championship on July 4.
In an interview with 1News in January, Mansbridge said he and the Crusaders felt “deeply for Razor”.
“He is a great Crusader who has made an incredible contribution to this club – first as a player and then as a coach," he said.
"His influence has been immense, and we will always regard him as part of the Crusaders family.”
One high-profile player who was also not there for the inaugural Crusaders game on Friday was former All Blacks first-five Dan Carter.
Carter, who said he was busy in Auckland that day, arrived in Christchurch on Sunday and attended the double header to promote the UNICEF charity, for which he is a hands-on supporter.
He told 1News that he had received a sneak preview of the stadium on an unofficial tour months earlier and that: “We always knew Friday was going to be an emotional game for the Crusaders and it lived up to the hype and expectation.”
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