Looks like he’s been down the pie shop recently.
Could be related to Andy Goode.
That suit is very unfashionable.
Arse. A decent AB coach is bad news for everyone else.
Next AB coach - post apocalypse - is Razor !!!!!!!
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Certain Navigator
- Posts: 324
- Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:34 am
Not totally convinced about the Rangi part of it, and wonder if there might be better candidates (O'Gara?, Holland? even Brown?) Still, I guess the gig would seem easy after babysitting the Blues.
? That suit is the height of NZ style and decorum.
“It was a pet, not an animal. It had a name, you don't eat things with names, this is horrific!”
In the interview press conference, he remained tight lipped about his team, but suggested he knew exactly who it would be. So I’m guessing it’s not likely going to be anyone he needs to convince, or move countries.Certain Navigator wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 9:02 amNot totally convinced about the Rangi part of it, and wonder if there might be better candidates (O'Gara?, Holland? even Brown?) Still, I guess the gig would seem easy after babysitting the Blues.
O'Gara was excellent when coaching at the Crusaders and obviously gets on well with Razor.Certain Navigator wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 9:02 amNot totally convinced about the Rangi part of it, and wonder if there might be better candidates (O'Gara?, Holland? even Brown?) Still, I guess the gig would seem easy after babysitting the Blues.
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FalseBayFC
- Posts: 3554
- Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2020 3:19 pm
I don't like this new development at all! If Razor gets to do a breakdance at the RWC I shall never recover.
Look on the bright side, that would be no sooner than in 2027. You might be dead before then!FalseBayFC wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 6:57 pm I don't like this new development at all! If Razor gets to do a breakdance at the RWC I shall never recover.
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FalseBayFC
- Posts: 3554
- Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2020 3:19 pm
I'm not ashamed to admit that I have huge PTSD caused by the great AB sides.Ymx wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 6:59 pmLook on the bright side, that would be no sooner than in 2027. You might be dead before then!FalseBayFC wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 6:57 pm I don't like this new development at all! If Razor gets to do a breakdance at the RWC I shall never recover.
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fishfoodie
- Posts: 8725
- Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:25 pm
I just hope he doesn't end up regretting, & thinking about what might have been .......
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convoluted
- Posts: 532
- Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2020 5:00 pm
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Guy Smiley
- Posts: 6635
- Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 7:52 pm
That's a fascinating read...
But if you want to understand how the team nabbed 11 titles (most recently, six back-to-back), you have to push past the players’ hulking frames, through the media scrum, around the changing room, and into the brilliant mind of Robertson.
“I’m a storyteller. It’s my greatest strength. As a coach, your first job is to select the right people – but then, you need to connect them with each other. You need a story to explain: ‘This is where we’re going’. That’s how you motivate people,” he says.
When he became the coach in 2017, Robertson took inspiration from boxer Muhammad Ali. He chose a theme for the year: “Rumble in the Jungle”, inspired by Ali’s 1974 fight by the same name. The Crusaders reached the final, and flew to Johannesburg for a showdown with South Africa’s Lions.
“I get a bit tingly just thinking about it. Ali hadn’t won a championship for eight years, and neither had we. The story just lined up beautifully. We were in the jungle, we were in a rumble… This was real. We were living it.”
The team doctor warned the players that in the final 20 minutes, they would feel like someone was “blowing a hairdryer down the back of their throats”. At that point, they were instructed to “dig deep”.
“I was really confident that the story would play out,” says Robertson. “We just had to win two or three critical moments in that match, and we did. I had an immense sense of pride, and I knew we had started something special. I thought, ‘We could win four or five titles off the back of this.’”
“Rumble in the Jungle” wasn’t just a catchy slogan. Robertson had pulled it apart – finding inspiration in Ali’s life story, and using it to challenge his players.
“Ali was more than a boxer. He stood for something. He changed his slave name, Cassius Clay, to Muhammad Ali. He was smart, he fought differently, and he changed the way he boxed.”
Robertson seized on Ali’s two-syllable poem – known as the shortest poem ever spoken: “Me, we”. Capturing the role of an individual player in a wider team, he turned the four letters into an acronym: “Mindfulness, Execution, Work-ethic, Enjoyment”.
You might find it hard to imagine rugby players talking about poetry in the locker room. To some, rugby seems like a brutish sport for big guys who use their bodies more than their brains.
“We are big, we are brutish, and we are tough,” Robertson says. “But we do care.”
By her own admission, Kaila Colbin isn’t a huge fan of rugby. The American-born leadership expert has lived in New Zealand for 18 years, but didn’t pay much attention to the game – until someone explained the history of her local team in Christchurch.
“I knew that the Crusaders are a phenomenal team, but I didn’t know their backstory, which is the plotline of every feelgood sports movie I’ve ever seen.”
When Super Rugby began in 1996, the Crusaders had a shocker. They were at the bottom of the table, and lost every game except for two. In need of a shake-up, they brought in coach Wayne Smith, who realised he couldn’t rely on having big, strong, fast players – because every team had those.
“Smithy decided to focus on team culture – and specifically, belonging,” says Colbin. “They built systems, rituals, small practices and a way of communicating with each other.
“Two years later, they won their first championship, and the rest is history. They’ve won more championships than any other Super Rugby team, and had more All Blacks captains and coaches too.”
In 2016, the Crusaders launched an international academy, allowing coaches from around the world to visit Christchurch to study their methods. During Covid, this programme was hampered.
Colbin knew the same opportunity could be delivered online. Her company, Boma, developed the Crusaders Coaching Leadership Programme, an online course featuring intimate videos from four of the team’s greats: coaches Robertson and Robbie Deans, and former captains Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock.
Education NZ provided $300,000 to develop this into an innovative export product. Participants are given live teaching support, and interact with each other using Slack.
“It worked beyond our wildest dreams,” says Colbin. “We’ve had 242 coaches from 24 countries take the course. People are overwhelmed by the opportunity to spend time with these legends. Kiwis don’t realise just how highly regarded this team is overseas.”
In the course, senior players explain how they build trust with teammates. One method is physical touch, says Sam Whitelock.
“There’s heaps of research showing that when you’re more connected with people, it’s easier to have hard conversations. That’s why touch is important – a handshake, a high-five, or even a slap on the bum.
“Obviously, you need to make sure that a person is comfortable with that. But when you connect in that way on a daily basis, you break down barriers. So it’s easier to sense when someone might be a bit tired or grumpy, or something is going on at home.”
Whitelock is so passionate about sharing his knowledge that he has come to Rugby Park on his day off to chat with me. He credits previous coaches, such as Deans, with building the Crusaders’ culture – by focusing on the little details.
“When you’re in a huddle, the coach should always be looking into the sun,” says Whitelock. “If the players are looking into the sun, they’re probably not going to pay as much attention, because they have sun in their eyes. They may miss one little bit of the coach’s message, which could be the difference between winning or losing the game.”
As a captain, Whitelock realised that he couldn’t have the scoreboard over his shoulder while talking to the players during a game. Otherwise, they’d focus on the score, rather than his instructions. At 202cm tall, he would take a knee or change his eyeline so the players were more engaged.
“Sometimes, a message delivered in a whisper has more effect than if you’re dominant, loud and direct. You need to work out when to change your tone and body language. Sometimes, the subtle things can make all the difference.”
Whitelock explains the Crusaders’ philosophy: “You win the game off the field.” In other words, success is determined by everything the team does before the opening whistle even blows.
“Sam’s level of reflectiveness as a leader is impressive,” says Colbin. “He is so aware of human behaviour, and thinks very hard about how to achieve the outcomes he wants.”
The Crusaders’ strategies are now being used by coaches around the world who have participated in the online programme, such as Jess Bunyard from Huddersfield, England.
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Guy Smiley
- Posts: 6635
- Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 7:52 pm
I have something here that could ease your pain....Grandpa wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 11:14 pm I can't decide if I wish I had grown up in Ch Ch... or that the Crusaders were from Auckland... I have rugby envy... what a dynasty... and Razor could be the best yet...
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300837 ... rch-school
After that, Christ’s College was more of the same, only bigger. He recalls it as a school full of thick future farmers. A brutal PE teacher named Hec Mackay was just one of the ex-military officers and war veterans who terrorised boys at that and other schools.
Worse still, the day boys got to go home to their mothers but boarders like Neill had made “a twenty-four-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week commitment to hell”.
”School House was pretty easy to remember, and spell, and just as well, because many of the boys there were the product of generations of inbreeding. Canterbury farming families, for some reason, like to marry among their own. The gene pool is very small. You would think that a cursory examination of how they bred their Corriedale sheep would’ve been helpful in this regard. Sadly, no.”
Neill was in Jacobs House, which he recalls had a “disproportionate number of very thick boys”.
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Guy Smiley
- Posts: 6635
- Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 7:52 pm
I would need to understand motivation. Why Yorkshire? If that was to take himself as far away from Auckland as possible, there is something to work with. Perhaps if he made a charitable donation to a Canterbury charity of our choice or got a full chest tattoo of Robbie Deans and Scott Robertson’s smiling faces either side of a red and black heart we could consider it.Guy Smiley wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 3:14 amAuckland sympathiser living in Yorkshire?
I don’t think we can trust that.
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Guy Smiley
- Posts: 6635
- Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 7:52 pm
. I reckon Big Daddy Blackadder has to be a part of it too, yeah?-
convoluted
- Posts: 532
- Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2020 5:00 pm
... and the NZ Herald too has chimed in with background today.
Reproduced as it's behind a paywall:
As he prepared for a 1997 preseason game Scott “Razor” Robertson draped his Crusaders jersey over a chair in his room in Timaru. Nothing unusual there, only the jersey faced a wall socket with the power switch on. The reasoning? Robertson was attempting to channel the electricity into his jersey.
Such a tale offers an insight into Robertson’s distinctively quirky, out-of-the-box persona that invigorated the Sumner rugby club, Canterbury and the Crusaders in the last 15 years. With those same coaching qualities he will seek to inspire the All Blacks from next year.
With infectious enthusiasm at its core, Robertson’s All Blacks tenure promises to be an authentic, eccentric adventure.
“My parents always said ‘be yourself, son’. I remember that catchphrase growing up,” Robertson said this week after signing a four-year contract as All Blacks head coach from 2024. “That’s who I am. I can always get better in different areas but what I know now is I can bring energy to a group, I can connect people, I have great vision. I enjoy what I do, how I do it and the people I work with – so you’ll get me.”
Robertson, the Mount Maunganui born-and-raised surfer, shifted south to carve a career as a loose forward and adopt the Razor moniker for his try-scoring celebrations with Canterbury and the Crusaders, and in 23 tests for the All Blacks, before traversing to France and Japan to finish his playing career.
As a coach, his laid-back image overshadows a deeply passionate, competitive, sensitive blend.
Described as genuine, warm and emotional by Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge, Robertson’s domestic coaching success that includes an 83.2 per cent win rate and 10 titles started with his transition from playing at the humble seaside Sumner club, where he transformed the division two battlers overnight.
Tim Cronin was Sumner team manager as Robertson charted successive unbeaten, title-winning campaigns – 40 victories on the trot – in 2008 and 2009. Robertson stayed on to lead the club to fifth in their maiden division one season before concentrating on his Canterbury assistant role.
"I’ve never seen anybody connect with different individuals as well as he can or connect with a common cause."Tim Cronin, Sumner team manager
While guiding the Crusaders, Robertson remains connected to the club after returning to mid-week trainings to help establish the Colts team that won their title in 2020.
“I’ve never seen anybody connect with different individuals as well as he can or connect with a common cause,” Cronin recalled. “At Sumner, he started dabbling in the theming he puts around his season. He started to flesh that out and understand the value in having a purpose around everything within the group. I haven’t seen anyone in sport or business who has been as effective as Razor at that.
“Everything he has touched has turned to gold. The big thing is his ability to get that one percent out of talented players. The All Blacks coach gets served up great players. Are you good enough to get one percent rather than having them underperform? It’s consistently winning year after year one of the toughest competitions on the planet. That’s what we’re after from our All Blacks coach – that consistent elite performance.”
Alongside the envy that inevitably accompanies six Super Rugby titles, Robertson’s exuberant personality – encapsulated by his notorious break-dancing celebrations – form a lightning rod for those who believe he craves the limelight.
Cronin suggests that’s a prevailing misconception.
“You’ll see after the Crusaders have won there’ll be some trolls hacking off at him about it. Those two years we went unbeaten, Razor doing his break dance at the end was as much a symbol of success as raising the trophy above your head. Look at what happened last year. He was reluctant to do the dance at Eden Park and it was the Crusaders players encouraging him. He’s not trying to say he’s the world’s greatest break dancer.”
During his time at Sumner, Cronin says everyone from young disillusioned kids to grey-haired grannies loved Robertson. Walking down the sideline, he made time for everyone. He knew the names of children, girlfriends, supporters alike.
“He knows what’s going on so players are coming to him when they need life advice. A lot of what he’s doing is trying to make sure they’re happy in their own skin before he’s asking them to be happy out on the field.”
Robertson’s public perception is not, according to Cronin, reality.
“People look at him and see this relaxed surfer dude but he played for the All Blacks so he’s an extremely competitive guy. He’s got very high standards. He’s just got a different way of achieving them than that old school traditional Kiwi mentality. I’m blown away when I look at my kids’ schools and how few are in love with rugby like kids were 20 years ago. It’s a time when the new generation isn’t connecting with the traditional faces of New Zealand rugby.”
Robertson is clearly unique - yet his coaching style is shaped by experiences. In many respects, he’s a blended by-product of his rugby environments.
At the Crusaders he played under inaugural coach Vance Stewart, Wayne Smith and Robbie Deans, the latter two remaining mentors throughout his coaching career.
Following a horror maiden Super Rugby season when they finished last with two wins, Smith assumed charge and, together with mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka, set about defining the meaning behind playing for the Crusaders.
Smith and Enoka concocted a presentation depicting the limited best bits from the ‘96 season, with Robertson’s efforts featuring in clips alongside Todd Blackadder, Mark Mayerhofler, Daryl Gibson and Angus Gardiner.
The video, set against the backdrop of the Hunters and Collectors song Holy Grail, contained King Henry V’s Agincourt speech which states among other elements: “We band of brothers. The man who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; however humble he may be, this day will elevate his status.”
Experiencing such theming, the power of playing for a greater purpose, in his playing career had a profound impact on Robertson, a self-confessed ideas man who needs assistants with strong detail skills to complement his style and bring the vision to life.
At the Crusaders, Robertson isn’t often overly involved in hands-on coaching. Scott Hansen and Jason Ryan, prior to his elevation to the All Blacks last year, held responsibility on that front which allows Robertson the freedom to adopt a helicopter approach of driving strategy, connecting with individual players, working with the leadership group and forging alignment.
Robertson has evolved over time, too, by sourcing ways to combat his dyslexia. As Mansbridge explains: “While he’s an extroverted thinker and can charge all over the place, when he’s speaking to players he’s very disciplined on clarity and precision.”
After working with him for the last 11 years, All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor knows Robertson well.
“He’s definitely a unique character. The whole of New Zealand is aware of his personality. It’s awesome the way he approaches things,” Taylor says.
“There’s no hiding from the fact that what he brings to the environment is special. The thing he drives the most is the culture. He loves having themes involved each year. He demands a lot from us players but also the wider staff, board, everyone. That’s a real asset he has. The vision is seen by everyone not just the team which goes a long way to getting everything right for us to be successful.”
Robertson’s most well-known theme was based on Muhammad Ali’s Rumble in the Jungle victory against George Foreman – likening the Crusaders’ nine-year title drought in 2017 to Ali regaining the heavyweight crown after being stripped of his title seven years earlier for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War.
Sam Whitelock, pictured with coach Scott Robertson, is one of several Crusaders in the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport
Sam Whitelock, pictured with coach Scott Robertson, is one of several Crusaders in the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport
As it transpired, in Robertson’s first year at the helm, the Crusaders travelled to Johannesburg where they defeated the Lions in the final at Ellis Park.
A gifted storyteller through the use of symbolism, Robertson conjured another theme around leaving your mark when the Crusaders changed their logo in 2019 to the Tohu emblem they now embrace.
At the start of that campaign each player received a badge with the Tohu thumbprint. Robertson spoke about the great trades of old, the master craftsmen, and how much repetition they needed to become experts in their field. That analogy was designed to inspire the repeat mundane skill work required throughout another title-winning season.
“The great thing about our themes is they’ve all led to something else,” Taylor says. “Rumble in the Jungle just happened to fit out perfectly the way the season ended up. We just happened to go play in South Africa.
“As a player when you’ve been doing that theme all year and then it finishes there you think ‘wow this is the moment we’ve been working for’. It doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed anything but it does give you a common cause and it unites the boys. That’s the power of what it can have.
“He drives mindset really well. He adds to the other coaches with little bits of gold here and there but he’s just a great people manager. That’s his greatest asset – his ability to manage players, management and get everyone to believe in one thing.
“Coaches don’t always get it right. There’s times when you need to check in and have those conversations. The great thing about our environment is we’ve got senior players who are happy to do that and he listens, digests and reacts. That’s a credit to him.”
That close connection to his senior players extends to coaches and management. Mansbridge, Crusaders chief executive for the last five years, extolls Robertson’s ability to bring player’s partners and the team’s commercial, marketing, board, sponsors along for the ride.
“People find it very easy to drink the Kool-Aid when Razor is around,” Mansbridge says. “I have never come across such an optimistic person. Any time you talk to him about an issue he reframes it as an opportunity. He’s a very influential individual.”
While affectionately called the boss Mansbridge notes Robertson’s soft touch that sees him physically embrace players on a regular basis.
“He understands emotions very well and that’s why he appeals to most players. Whenever you put him in a box and think he’s really good at relationships he’ll then turn around and make a brilliant observation about the game.
“You’ll get the occasional one where it might not be the perfect love affair but most coaches would die in a ditch for him the same way players would. I’ve seen players not play well and when they go up to him they’re disappointed in themselves. He’s got a very strong connection.”
Mansbridge points to luring Irish great Ronan O’Gara as assistant coach in 2018 and recruiting former Pumas captain Pablo Matera last year as examples of Robertson’s restless, inquisitive drive to improve.
“Pablo was good for us because it’s almost like bringing in someone else to critique your environment. He’d sit down with him and analyse things so he’s quite open.”
New Zealand Rugby chair Dame Patsy Reddy might have thought she was getting the final word at Robertson’s unveiling on Tuesday. Asked whether his break-dancing celebrations will continue with the All Blacks, Reddy responded: “Only when he wins the World Cup. We look forward to the inspirational journey he will take us on.”
Robertson interjected: “Every four years is enough for me.”
No pressure, then.
Reproduced as it's behind a paywall:
As he prepared for a 1997 preseason game Scott “Razor” Robertson draped his Crusaders jersey over a chair in his room in Timaru. Nothing unusual there, only the jersey faced a wall socket with the power switch on. The reasoning? Robertson was attempting to channel the electricity into his jersey.
Such a tale offers an insight into Robertson’s distinctively quirky, out-of-the-box persona that invigorated the Sumner rugby club, Canterbury and the Crusaders in the last 15 years. With those same coaching qualities he will seek to inspire the All Blacks from next year.
With infectious enthusiasm at its core, Robertson’s All Blacks tenure promises to be an authentic, eccentric adventure.
“My parents always said ‘be yourself, son’. I remember that catchphrase growing up,” Robertson said this week after signing a four-year contract as All Blacks head coach from 2024. “That’s who I am. I can always get better in different areas but what I know now is I can bring energy to a group, I can connect people, I have great vision. I enjoy what I do, how I do it and the people I work with – so you’ll get me.”
Robertson, the Mount Maunganui born-and-raised surfer, shifted south to carve a career as a loose forward and adopt the Razor moniker for his try-scoring celebrations with Canterbury and the Crusaders, and in 23 tests for the All Blacks, before traversing to France and Japan to finish his playing career.
As a coach, his laid-back image overshadows a deeply passionate, competitive, sensitive blend.
Described as genuine, warm and emotional by Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge, Robertson’s domestic coaching success that includes an 83.2 per cent win rate and 10 titles started with his transition from playing at the humble seaside Sumner club, where he transformed the division two battlers overnight.
Tim Cronin was Sumner team manager as Robertson charted successive unbeaten, title-winning campaigns – 40 victories on the trot – in 2008 and 2009. Robertson stayed on to lead the club to fifth in their maiden division one season before concentrating on his Canterbury assistant role.
"I’ve never seen anybody connect with different individuals as well as he can or connect with a common cause."Tim Cronin, Sumner team manager
While guiding the Crusaders, Robertson remains connected to the club after returning to mid-week trainings to help establish the Colts team that won their title in 2020.
“I’ve never seen anybody connect with different individuals as well as he can or connect with a common cause,” Cronin recalled. “At Sumner, he started dabbling in the theming he puts around his season. He started to flesh that out and understand the value in having a purpose around everything within the group. I haven’t seen anyone in sport or business who has been as effective as Razor at that.
“Everything he has touched has turned to gold. The big thing is his ability to get that one percent out of talented players. The All Blacks coach gets served up great players. Are you good enough to get one percent rather than having them underperform? It’s consistently winning year after year one of the toughest competitions on the planet. That’s what we’re after from our All Blacks coach – that consistent elite performance.”
Alongside the envy that inevitably accompanies six Super Rugby titles, Robertson’s exuberant personality – encapsulated by his notorious break-dancing celebrations – form a lightning rod for those who believe he craves the limelight.
Cronin suggests that’s a prevailing misconception.
“You’ll see after the Crusaders have won there’ll be some trolls hacking off at him about it. Those two years we went unbeaten, Razor doing his break dance at the end was as much a symbol of success as raising the trophy above your head. Look at what happened last year. He was reluctant to do the dance at Eden Park and it was the Crusaders players encouraging him. He’s not trying to say he’s the world’s greatest break dancer.”
During his time at Sumner, Cronin says everyone from young disillusioned kids to grey-haired grannies loved Robertson. Walking down the sideline, he made time for everyone. He knew the names of children, girlfriends, supporters alike.
“He knows what’s going on so players are coming to him when they need life advice. A lot of what he’s doing is trying to make sure they’re happy in their own skin before he’s asking them to be happy out on the field.”
Robertson’s public perception is not, according to Cronin, reality.
“People look at him and see this relaxed surfer dude but he played for the All Blacks so he’s an extremely competitive guy. He’s got very high standards. He’s just got a different way of achieving them than that old school traditional Kiwi mentality. I’m blown away when I look at my kids’ schools and how few are in love with rugby like kids were 20 years ago. It’s a time when the new generation isn’t connecting with the traditional faces of New Zealand rugby.”
Robertson is clearly unique - yet his coaching style is shaped by experiences. In many respects, he’s a blended by-product of his rugby environments.
At the Crusaders he played under inaugural coach Vance Stewart, Wayne Smith and Robbie Deans, the latter two remaining mentors throughout his coaching career.
Following a horror maiden Super Rugby season when they finished last with two wins, Smith assumed charge and, together with mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka, set about defining the meaning behind playing for the Crusaders.
Smith and Enoka concocted a presentation depicting the limited best bits from the ‘96 season, with Robertson’s efforts featuring in clips alongside Todd Blackadder, Mark Mayerhofler, Daryl Gibson and Angus Gardiner.
The video, set against the backdrop of the Hunters and Collectors song Holy Grail, contained King Henry V’s Agincourt speech which states among other elements: “We band of brothers. The man who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; however humble he may be, this day will elevate his status.”
Experiencing such theming, the power of playing for a greater purpose, in his playing career had a profound impact on Robertson, a self-confessed ideas man who needs assistants with strong detail skills to complement his style and bring the vision to life.
At the Crusaders, Robertson isn’t often overly involved in hands-on coaching. Scott Hansen and Jason Ryan, prior to his elevation to the All Blacks last year, held responsibility on that front which allows Robertson the freedom to adopt a helicopter approach of driving strategy, connecting with individual players, working with the leadership group and forging alignment.
Robertson has evolved over time, too, by sourcing ways to combat his dyslexia. As Mansbridge explains: “While he’s an extroverted thinker and can charge all over the place, when he’s speaking to players he’s very disciplined on clarity and precision.”
After working with him for the last 11 years, All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor knows Robertson well.
“He’s definitely a unique character. The whole of New Zealand is aware of his personality. It’s awesome the way he approaches things,” Taylor says.
“There’s no hiding from the fact that what he brings to the environment is special. The thing he drives the most is the culture. He loves having themes involved each year. He demands a lot from us players but also the wider staff, board, everyone. That’s a real asset he has. The vision is seen by everyone not just the team which goes a long way to getting everything right for us to be successful.”
Robertson’s most well-known theme was based on Muhammad Ali’s Rumble in the Jungle victory against George Foreman – likening the Crusaders’ nine-year title drought in 2017 to Ali regaining the heavyweight crown after being stripped of his title seven years earlier for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War.
Sam Whitelock, pictured with coach Scott Robertson, is one of several Crusaders in the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport
Sam Whitelock, pictured with coach Scott Robertson, is one of several Crusaders in the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport
As it transpired, in Robertson’s first year at the helm, the Crusaders travelled to Johannesburg where they defeated the Lions in the final at Ellis Park.
A gifted storyteller through the use of symbolism, Robertson conjured another theme around leaving your mark when the Crusaders changed their logo in 2019 to the Tohu emblem they now embrace.
At the start of that campaign each player received a badge with the Tohu thumbprint. Robertson spoke about the great trades of old, the master craftsmen, and how much repetition they needed to become experts in their field. That analogy was designed to inspire the repeat mundane skill work required throughout another title-winning season.
“The great thing about our themes is they’ve all led to something else,” Taylor says. “Rumble in the Jungle just happened to fit out perfectly the way the season ended up. We just happened to go play in South Africa.
“As a player when you’ve been doing that theme all year and then it finishes there you think ‘wow this is the moment we’ve been working for’. It doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed anything but it does give you a common cause and it unites the boys. That’s the power of what it can have.
“He drives mindset really well. He adds to the other coaches with little bits of gold here and there but he’s just a great people manager. That’s his greatest asset – his ability to manage players, management and get everyone to believe in one thing.
“Coaches don’t always get it right. There’s times when you need to check in and have those conversations. The great thing about our environment is we’ve got senior players who are happy to do that and he listens, digests and reacts. That’s a credit to him.”
That close connection to his senior players extends to coaches and management. Mansbridge, Crusaders chief executive for the last five years, extolls Robertson’s ability to bring player’s partners and the team’s commercial, marketing, board, sponsors along for the ride.
“People find it very easy to drink the Kool-Aid when Razor is around,” Mansbridge says. “I have never come across such an optimistic person. Any time you talk to him about an issue he reframes it as an opportunity. He’s a very influential individual.”
While affectionately called the boss Mansbridge notes Robertson’s soft touch that sees him physically embrace players on a regular basis.
“He understands emotions very well and that’s why he appeals to most players. Whenever you put him in a box and think he’s really good at relationships he’ll then turn around and make a brilliant observation about the game.
“You’ll get the occasional one where it might not be the perfect love affair but most coaches would die in a ditch for him the same way players would. I’ve seen players not play well and when they go up to him they’re disappointed in themselves. He’s got a very strong connection.”
Mansbridge points to luring Irish great Ronan O’Gara as assistant coach in 2018 and recruiting former Pumas captain Pablo Matera last year as examples of Robertson’s restless, inquisitive drive to improve.
“Pablo was good for us because it’s almost like bringing in someone else to critique your environment. He’d sit down with him and analyse things so he’s quite open.”
New Zealand Rugby chair Dame Patsy Reddy might have thought she was getting the final word at Robertson’s unveiling on Tuesday. Asked whether his break-dancing celebrations will continue with the All Blacks, Reddy responded: “Only when he wins the World Cup. We look forward to the inspirational journey he will take us on.”
Robertson interjected: “Every four years is enough for me.”
No pressure, then.
Todd is Toddy Blackadder, not the #7 Todd.Guy Smiley wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 4:18 am. I reckon Big Daddy Blackadder has to be a part of it too, yeah?
No, I wouldn't trust me either. I went to Otago Uni... during the 80s I learnt a new way of hating Canterbury.. the scarfie way...Guy Smiley wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 3:14 amAuckland sympathiser living in Yorkshire?
I don’t think we can trust that.
But, but I did nearly shag my cousin, so that almost qualifies me?
Good article... but found this part sad... if Razor does nothing else, I hope he gets kids falling in love with rugby again...convoluted wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 5:22 am ... and the NZ Herald too has chimed in with background today.
Reproduced as it's behind a paywall:
I’m blown away when I look at my kids’ schools and how few are in love with rugby like kids were 20 years ago. It’s a time when the new generation isn’t connecting with the traditional faces of New Zealand rugby.”
If my son’s club is anything to go by, drop out rates from rugby must be a concern. He is 11 and half a dozen have gone to soccer this season. Back when I was his age that was the time of influx rather than exodus, but it now seems to be the reverse.
I played soccer and rugby at school. But everyone played rugby for fun.. even the soccer guys... why do you think it isn't so popular these days?Jb1981 wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:00 pm If my son’s club is anything to go by, drop out rates from rugby must be a concern. He is 11 and half a dozen have gone to soccer this season. Back when I was his age that was the time of influx rather than exodus, but it now seems to be the reverse.
PS. Do they still play bull-rush at school? Loved that game...
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Guy Smiley
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Grandpa wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 9:49 pmNo, I wouldn't trust me either. I went to Otago Uni... during the 80s I learnt a new way of hating Canterbury.. the scarfie way...Guy Smiley wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 3:14 amAuckland sympathiser living in Yorkshire?
I don’t think we can trust that.
But, but I did nearly shag my cousin, so that almost qualifies me?
I've got a hot cousin, actually.
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Guy Smiley
- Posts: 6635
- Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 7:52 pm
I dunno about bull-rush. I've only got one family with kids in my social circle for now and their 12 yr old boy is more into programming than sport. He recently built a pc with a mate... tech is where a lot of kids are at. His older sister and dad both practise Tae Kwo Do and he may have been a bit over shadowed by that.Grandpa wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:16 pmI played soccer and rugby at school. But everyone played rugby for fun.. even the soccer guys... why do you think it isn't so popular these days?Jb1981 wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:00 pm If my son’s club is anything to go by, drop out rates from rugby must be a concern. He is 11 and half a dozen have gone to soccer this season. Back when I was his age that was the time of influx rather than exodus, but it now seems to be the reverse.
PS. Do they still play bull-rush at school? Loved that game...
There's also a massive change in NZ's demographic to consider... we have a shitload of relatively recent immigrants from Asia and those families aren't likely to favour heavy contact sport for their kids, naturally they'll be looking at academic pursuits.
I think there's still a decent core though, who will follow into rugby. Perhaps not the volumes we were used to as kids but it's still a massive component in the school system.
Yeah, makes sense. When I was kid, all the top athletes played rugby.... if you were good at sport..., tennis, cricket, athletics whatever... you played rugby... there were still plenty of non-sporty types around... but it sounds like other sports are becoming more popular.. like soccer? Then again when I was at school there weren't many big bastards around... the odd one, but most were lean... rather than stout... I see kids coming out of my old school now and they are like giants...Guy Smiley wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:27 pmI dunno about bull-rush. I've only got one family with kids in my social circle for now and their 12 yr old boy is more into programming than sport. He recently built a pc with a mate... tech is where a lot of kids are at. His older sister and dad both practise Tae Kwo Do and he may have been a bit over shadowed by that.Grandpa wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:16 pmI played soccer and rugby at school. But everyone played rugby for fun.. even the soccer guys... why do you think it isn't so popular these days?Jb1981 wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:00 pm If my son’s club is anything to go by, drop out rates from rugby must be a concern. He is 11 and half a dozen have gone to soccer this season. Back when I was his age that was the time of influx rather than exodus, but it now seems to be the reverse.
PS. Do they still play bull-rush at school? Loved that game...
There's also a massive change in NZ's demographic to consider... we have a shitload of relatively recent immigrants from Asia and those families aren't likely to favour heavy contact sport for their kids, naturally they'll be looking at academic pursuits.
I think there's still a decent core though, who will follow into rugby. Perhaps not the volumes we were used to as kids but it's still a massive component in the school system.
