All Blacks head coach heir apparent Scott Robertson has left the door open to furthering his career overseas, with eyes on the top job in France.
The process of finding the next All Blacks head coach was thrown into turmoil after New Zealand Rugby rejected Robertson’s recent suggestion that an announcement was close.
‘Razor’ also referenced the fact he was lined up to take over the All Blacks coaching reins after some poor results in 2022, only for Ian Foster to save his job when his team bounced back and beat the Springboks in Johannesburg during the Rugby Championship.
Robertson, who will kick off the Crusaders’ Super Rugby Pacific title defence against the Chiefs on Friday, has also previously been linked with the top job in England.
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In the new book Le Coq: A Journey to the Heart of French Rugby, the 48-year-old speaks fondly of how things he learnt as a player in France – he made more than 50 appearances for Perpignan between 2003 and 2006 – have been adopted by the Crusaders during his five-title tenure with the team, and hints that he has unfinished business in the Top 14.
“One of the reasons I went to France was to learn their language and understand about their culture,” Robertson says in the new book.
“I did that, but now it is one of my personal goals to go back someday to win the Bouclier [Top 14 trophy the Bouclier de Brennus]. Or even coach the French team. I would love to do that; it would be a great challenge for me. Something entirely different.”
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“The chances of winning it as a foreign coach are stacked against you. Which is probably why I’d love to go back and try one day,” he said. “To coach in the competition that I played in would be something special.”
“It was about freedom,” he continues in Le Coq. “They had a pretty special philosophy and unique way of their skill-set system. When they would find their offloading game and pass off the inside hip, it would fire.
“And they loved it when people talked about it, the French flair. Some of the teams you played, like Toulouse — wow, bang . . . some of the tries they scored and the way they played! They would light things up beautifully.”
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