All Blacks coach race: Jamie Joseph & Dave Rennie offer polarising verdicts on Scott Robertson’s assistants
New Zealand Rugby is conducting the final in-person interviews this week to determine who the next All Blacks head coach will be.
The union has conducted a ‘comprehensive’ search to find Scott Robertson’s successor after he was unceremoniously shown the door earlier this year.
After setting a robust criteria for potential candidates, which required that the successor have international head coaching experience, two clear frontrunners have emerged in the form of Dave Rennie and Jamie Joseph.
Interim chief executive Steve Lancaster and former All Black Dane Coles, who are part of the appointment panel, visited both candidates in recent weeks to witness how they operate on a day-to-day basis and with that now completed, the in-person interviews look to be the final step before the preferred candidate is presented to the New Zealand Rugby board, who will make the final decision.
When the next All Blacks head coach will be named
It is reported by several publications in New Zealand that a decision and announcement on who the next All Blacks head coach could be made as early as Thursday this week with the interviews taking place over the next couple of days.
In a significant development, 1News NZ reports that Joseph is more open to the idea of retaining members of Robertson’s All Blacks coaching team than Rennie is.
When NZ Rugby confirmed Robertson’s departure, Chair David Kirk confirmed that the likes of Jason Ryan, Tamati Ellison and Scott Hansen remained on the union’s payroll. He added that the new head coach would be afforded the opportunity to hire his own assistant and would not need to retain the trio.
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During Robertson’s tenure, it was claimed by reports that Hansen caused rifts in the coaching team, which influenced the departures of Leon MacDonald and Jason Holland. Meanwhile, Ryan is highly rated in New Zealand and abroad as a world-class coach, having played a pivotal role under Robertson at the Crusaders before turning the All Blacks forward pack into a serious weapon under Ian Foster during the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Ellison joined the All Blacks coaching team in late 2024, having previously worked with the Wellington Lions and Crusaders’ coaching staff.
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It’s not yet clear if Rennie’s reluctance to work with the trio will be detrimental to his bid to become the All Blacks boss or not, or whether it will count in Joseph’s favour that he is open to working with them.
While the Highlanders want Joseph to see out the rest of the season with the Super Rugby Pacific club, it is further reported that New Zealand Rugby will insist that he steps down from the role with the same being true for Rennie at the Kobe Steelers.
The former Wallabies boss is in the final year of his contract at the Japanese club, who will bid Scotsman Peter Murchie farewell at the end of the season.
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Fortunately for the Kobe club, they have got experienced coaches on their payroll who could step up to the plate if Rennie is successful with Wayne Smith operating in an advisory position for the coaches, while ex-Ulster director of rugby Dan McFarland currently oversees the forwards.
Former Scotland scrum-half Mike Blair, who was Edinburgh’s head coach and the national team’s assistant coach, is also working under Rennie, meaning that Kobe might not need to search for an interim head coach.
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