NZ chief is backing All Blacks to get back to top

By ADAM HATHAWAY

New Zealand CEO Mark Robinson is confident the All Blacks can rise to the top of the world game despite the recent player drain. The Kiwis kicked off life under Scott Robertston in Dunedin yesterday with the head coach missing star players like Richie Mo’unga who is contracted to play in Japan with Toshiba Brave Lupus.

Several New Zealanders have done time in the Far East as part of a sabbatical then returned to Test rugby and Robinson insists that compromise model is the best solution.

The All Blacks have also been hit by the retirements of the likes of Sam Whitelock, Aaron Smith and Brodie Retallick but Robinson thinks the future is bright.

The 50-year-old former All Black centre said: “We’re really comfortable with the model we have in place. What’s existed for 130 years is expectation that our teams will perform at the highest level.

“With Japan, we’re being clear and very open about the way we’re looking at eligibility in that space. And we’ve been able to do some creative things around contracting that have helped in that area.

“Scott has got into his work from the back end of last year, early this year around connecting with a lot of people across the game. He has come through our system, he’s spent a huge amount of time developing his craft.”

Top two: Scott Roberton, left, and Mark Robinson

Robinson is also aiming to resurrect traditional tours starting in 2026 when the All Blacks will travel to South Africa to play three Tests plus games against URC outfits like the Bulls, Sharks and the Stormers.

These tours, on the back of the proposed Nations Championship that year, will lead to more concerns about player welfare but Robinson is desperate to get tours going again, not least against their oldest rivals.

“Touring has been lost a little bit and it is one of the great debates around the game,” added Robinson.

“I remember the Lions coming to Taranaki in 1993 and that is what our game is founded on, those experiences for young people to connect and see themselves in those moments. It is a big part of the experience for our athletes and it is great for them to go to different parts of the world and experience that sort of thing. It is great for the fans, it is great for the host country in terms of spreading the opportunities into wide areas instead of what we do traditionally in big cities. We love the tours.

“With the talk around All Blacks-South Africa tours; it’s that scarcity of connection that is growing a huge amount of interest. We think it’ll be amazing, and we will get that connection through playing their URC teams.

“We’ve been really open about some opportunities we see with our Rugby Championship partners to do some things on touring which we think could be quite cool. So we will still have an element of that through the international calendar we have, and there’s potential that just won’t be with South Africa.”