@westie_boy said in All Blacks 2026:
@Donsteppa said in All Blacks 2026:
40 years on - maybe the Baby Blacks could be back this season...
Jeez… 40 years!!! I remember watching this at my mates place.
Was that David Kirk’s 1st game as AB captain?
Yes.
In all this talk of coaches would it behoove the ABs to try and add some foreign talent somewhere along the line?
Rassie employs non South Africans (Jerry Flannery as well as TB) probably for the express reason so that he doesn't have a biased echo chamber. An outsider perspective.
@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2026:
In all this talk of coaches would it behoove the ABs to try and add some foreign talent somewhere along the line?
Rassie employs non South Africans (Jerry Flannery as well as TB) probably for the express reason so that he doesn't have a biased echo chamber. An outsider perspective.
It was bad enough with a Tokoroan being a big part of the review team.
@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:
@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2026:
In all this talk of coaches would it behoove the ABs to try and add some foreign talent somewhere along the line?
Rassie employs non South Africans (Jerry Flannery as well as TB) probably for the express reason so that he doesn't have a biased echo chamber. An outsider perspective.
It was bad enough with a Tokoroan being a big part of the review team.
Haha!
@booboo said in All Blacks 2026:
As an aside... JJ was lined up as a replacement way before the review was due.
NZR knew this was happening.
That is apparently what happened the past 2 times isnt it? Fozzie was all but appointed before the fact, same with Razor, like to think Kirk is smart enough to see the current process is flawed and has us where we are now.
Weren't a couple of coaches critical at the time of it all, both times?
Re Brown, wasnt it well publicised that both Fozzie and Razor wanted him in thier team, but he only wanted to work under JJ for the ABs?
I think having assistants apply as well post appointing the Head Coach and he can go through the process and hire those he wants rather than having to assemble his team of coaches before he goes in?)
@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2026:
In all this talk of coaches would it behoove the ABs to try and add some foreign talent somewhere along the line?
Rassie employs non South Africans (Jerry Flannery as well as TB) probably for the express reason so that he doesn't have a biased echo chamber. An outsider perspective.
No it wouldn't and I think it is something we would benefit from.
It has been a long time since NZ were leading the world in playing evolution. That now sits in primarily in SA/Europe.
We are in a bubble playing domestic rugby with NZ and Aus teams, who play a similar style to us but dont do it as well.
It would be advantageous to get IP fom outside our bubble
@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:
@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2026:
In all this talk of coaches would it behoove the ABs to try and add some foreign talent somewhere along the line?
Rassie employs non South Africans (Jerry Flannery as well as TB) probably for the express reason so that he doesn't have a biased echo chamber. An outsider perspective.
It was bad enough with a Tokoroan being a big part of the review team.
That's a village in Samoa isn't it...
@sparky said in All Blacks 2026:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2026:
With the Cartel we had 3 coaches with top tier test team HC experience who were able to succesfully co-exist. This is the sort of model we need to aim for again
True, but which top tier coaches are content to be Assistants, accept the lower salary and for whom?
Is an assistant coach role with the All Blacks not still a promotion for those currently coaching Super Rugby? Would being an assistant coach of the All Blacks not be better than never being involved at all?
@canefan said in All Blacks 2026:
@booboo said in All Blacks 2026:
As an aside... JJ was lined up as a replacement way before the review was due.
NZR knew this was happening.
Sauce?
Speculation
@SouthernMann said in All Blacks 2026:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:
@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2026:
In all this talk of coaches would it behoove the ABs to try and add some foreign talent somewhere along the line?
Rassie employs non South Africans (Jerry Flannery as well as TB) probably for the express reason so that he doesn't have a biased echo chamber. An outsider perspective.
It was bad enough with a Tokoroan being a big part of the review team.
That's a village in Samoa isn't it...
It's in the south sea islands.
@junior said in All Blacks 2026:
The guy going for the head coach should, IMO, be able to say who he wants to work with and also that they want to work with him.
The applicants should indicate to the board who their preferred coaching group would be (based on previous discussions), even if that info remains confidential. The last thing you want is for the head coach to promise you a group of A-level assistants and end up with B- or C-level.
Remember that Foster didn't get his preferred assistants either as that included Ryan and Brown.
@SouthernMann said in All Blacks 2026:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:
@nonpartizan said in All Blacks 2026:
In all this talk of coaches would it behoove the ABs to try and add some foreign talent somewhere along the line?
Rassie employs non South Africans (Jerry Flannery as well as TB) probably for the express reason so that he doesn't have a biased echo chamber. An outsider perspective.
It was bad enough with a Tokoroan being a big part of the review team.
That's a village in Samoa isn't it...
Stems from the 2007 Lions tour and the ignorance of British journos IIRC. Kevvie may have been the original Tokoroan. But let's not digress.
@booboo Yeah during the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour in the week after the Brian O'Driscoll "I could have died" incident, Brendan Gallagher, an Irish journalist at the Daily Telegraph, made a quip about Kevin Mealamu being poached from the South Sea island of Tokoroa.
To this day, I am still not sure if he was being ignorant or ironic. But it was good trolling, I guess.
@sparky said in All Blacks 2026:
@booboo Yeah during the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour in the week after the Brian O'Driscoll "I could have died" incident, Brendan Gallagher, an Irish journalist at the Daily Telegraph, made a quip about Kevin Mealamu being poached from the South Sea island of Tokoroa.
To this day, I am still not sure if he was being ignorant or ironic. But it was good trolling, I guess.
They'll probably accuse NZ of poaching coaches from Fiji if Pat Lam is in the mix,
@Yeetyaah said in All Blacks 2026:
Old man uses AI to shitpost on X
If Tony Brown does choose his mate Rassie and the Spingboks rather than his old mucker Jamie and the All Blacks, then I think that make Jamie Jospeh much less of the favourite than many suppose.
We could see names like Vern Cotter, John Mitchell and Warren Gatland (especially if one of them can get Tana Umaga to agree to be their Assistant) entering the conversation more.
