Former All Blacks coach Laurie Mains believes New Zealand Rugby has hit the jackpot by naming Scott Robertson as Ian Foster’s successor.
The Crusaders coach was widely favoured to become the next national coach and learned his fate on Tuesday afternoon after a two-day interviewing process with the NZR board.
Taking the reins in 2024 and signing a four-year deal that will see him through to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, Mains is confident the right man has been selected for the job.
“He absolutely is (the right selection),” Mains told SENZ The Run Home.
“I’m really excited about his appointment. He seems to get the best out of players, the best out of his team, the best out of his assistant coaches and he brings a whole new excitement to it.
“He’s different and different in a very good way. He’s different in a way that I couldn’t be and I’ve got to say … his record meant that really he was the only person that could get the job.”
Robertson has an enviable track record with teams across all levels, winning three premierships with Canterbury in the NPC, six Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders, a World Championship crown with the New Zealand U20s and a famous Barbarians FC victory over the All Blacks XV in 2022.
The 48-year-old also played 23 Tests for the All Blacks as a loose forward between 1998 and 2002.
With experience as both an international player representing and as a successful coach, Mains doubled down on Robertson’s selection, saying he has the potential to become “one of the greats”.
“There’s a couple of things (that make him right for the job),” he added.
“He was a successful All Black himself and he carries … once you’ve played in the All Blacks, you carry the legacy of that All Black jersey with you and as a former player, he knows just how important it is.
“But what I’ve seen in his coaching, clearly the players are able to express themselves fully inside a very sound game plan and he’s just got everybody jumping out of their boots to play when they take the field.
“He brings an excitement to his players. It’s not so hard to get the best out of your players for two or three years but he’s done it now for six years and he keeps innovating and he keeps bringing in new blood that turns out to be very good choices.
“The other factor that’s very important; he gets the best out of the coaching team around him and his whole team around him.
“For me sitting on the outside, he’s looking like he could become one of the greats.”
Robertson will take over from incumbent coach Ian Foster at the close of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, where it is hoped New Zealand can walk away with their fourth Webb Ellis trophy.