How a trip to Northern Ireland changed All Blacks coach Scott Robertson’s life

Scott Robertson is sitting in a small meeting room in a Dunedin hotel, just a few hundred yards from the hotel where England will be based for the first Test against New Zealand on Saturday.

The new All Blacks head coach is talking about his vision for the side. The 49-year-old, with his blonde mop of hair and a penchant for surfing and breakdancing, represents a significant step-change from the besuited lineage of All Blacks coaches, four of whom - Gordon Tietjens, Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith - have been knighted.

Yet having spent his 26-year professional career inching towards this moment, it feels like his time. His outstanding coaching record, which includes seven successive Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders, at one stage attracted England’s interest too.

Had things turned out differently, he might have been sitting in the other hotel in Dunedin, having been included on a three-man shortlist along with Ronan O’Gara and Steve Borthwick to replace Eddie Jones when he was sacked as England head coach in December 2022.

The Rugby Football Union went with its preferred choice in Borthwick, but Robertson, who is known only by his nickname ‘Razor’ here in New Zealand, had also ruled himself out despite a desperate desire to coach on the international stage.

“We were talking about living in a castle at one stage, me and the missus,” said Robertson, when asked about the England job.

“I’ve done my time with club rugby. I thought about going to France, but I didn’t really want to go back into club rugby after my beloved time with the Crusaders.

“And it was time for me to test myself at Test level. And the opportunity and time came here with the All Blacks. I did have other opportunities, but my feet are here.”

Uprooting his family was another factor, but the truth is that he only ever wanted the All Blacks job. “My first choice was where I am now,” he added. “I’m pleased I stayed in that fight and here we are.”

There is a symmetry that his first match brings him head-to-head with Borthwick.

Yet despite all that experience of silverware, there is a sense that this is a step into the unknown. Seasoned New Zealand observers are not quite sure what to expect from an All Blacks side coached by ‘Razor’. For all the razzmatazz, he knows this is a serious business.

And for all his free-spirited vibe – at one point in the conversation he recalls the terrifying moment he came face to face with a Tiger shark while surfing in Durban in the early 2000s – there has been a surprisingly low-key start to his tenure.

“People see me as who I am, myself,” he said. “I think that’s the first thing they realise, ‘he is just consistently open and honest’. I know when I get it right or if I don’t.

“I have a side to me where I think I can connect with all people on a personal front, or in a team side of it.”

Life-changing experience

It was one of his first journeys overseas that had the biggest impact on his life, when as an 18-year-old he arrived at Ards Rugby Club in Northern Ireland to spend six months playing for the team. He arrived too late to be registered for the first XV, so his debut was in an Under-18 cup final at Ravenhill and he ended up starring for the second XV just five years before he made his All Blacks debut against Australia.

Yet it was a visit to Queen’s University in Belfast, where he randomly attended lectures with his rugby mates, that changed his life, after a sheltered upbringing in the coastal resort of Mount Maunganui.

“After school finished, I went and played rugby in Ards in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It helped me grow up very quickly in the realities of life and the opportunities that were out there. I was limited in my thoughts. The way I played rugby, I knew I had an opportunity through the gift of footie. I matured massively. The No 1 thing I learned from playing in Ards was that I had to get an education.

“A lot of the guys went to Queen’s University. I would sit in the back of the lecture theatre and listen. Then they were going off to Amsterdam or London, to finance and the markets. Education gave them those opportunities and I hadn’t had that. I wasn’t going to be a brickie or a hodsman or a labourer. The educational piece changed [me]. It wasn’t the university; it was how I found out what I learned, and what I needed at university was the key.

“I went back as an adult student to university. It is where I met my wife. I sat in front of the best-looking girl in class and married her seven years later. Jane got a double degree – she got hers and mine. I learned about myself at uni. How do I work? Who do I need around me? What are my blind spots? What am I missing? Get them around me, great ideas man. Those people helped me finish that – and that is what Jane did.

“When I signed my contract with the Crusaders, I was the first player to go to Lincoln University. Part of my contract was that they paid for my degree. Now, there are all these graduates; from Richie McCaw to the Whitelocks to the Barretts, they have all been there. They’ve been educated and got degrees – Richie got an honorary from there.

“So I was a bit of a pioneer in that regard, it just took me a few years longer than normal, but I was playing Test footie at that stage. I just learned how I learned.”

Much like the crash course Borthwick had to endure at the start of last year, Robertson finds himself facing a revitalised England having had only 10 days together with his squad. There is a significance in starting in Dunedin before travelling up to Auckland for the second Test as he tries to connect the New Zealand public with his team, under new captain Scott Barrett.

“We are an effort-based team, he is an effort-based captain,” he said. “He would do what he expects of others.

“I just love being around groups and people. This is special. When I became an All Black I wanted to become an All Black coach. That has led to getting around the world and learning off the best and how they shape themselves. The one thing I learned from all of them, they are all extremely genuine good men or women. You get what you see and that is why people buy in.”