Thanks for your informative commentary Mark. As a SA fan, I hope instability does not affect the mighty AB’s. I am expecting a tight affair in SA and would be very surprised if the Boks win both tests. I am privileged to have watched the AB’s play the top 10 test nations live and have huge respect for their talent and stubborn determination. Sterkte Bokke!
@christopherwyndham-mellor7065 Thank you very much, and for us, SA is the best place in the world to tour, the country, the people, the passion for rugby and the level of competition, it does not get any better for us.
Thanks Mark. Good to hear your views about this, as a Kiwi. I think it won't effect them. I don't think its a factor at all. The players will now "play for razor" on a whole new level.
Thanks Mark for sharing your opinion. That press conference was very awkward from what I can tell, seemed to me if he didn't "resign" he probably would've been fired. Oh yes with the break this week, I hope you can cover the nations cup too. That will be amazing.
Fellow ABs fans who think the sky is falling need to chill. ABs backline has NOT looked sharp in any game except vs Fiji... which is not saying much. Beauden Barret has pulled our hineys from the fire to squeak past England. We fell to Argentina at home. And in the rain last week, it was our forwards who did the damage in the first 50 mins to win the game. Losing MacDonald is NOT a negative. We don't know if it will be a positive. At worst we keep the status quo. After watching a brilliant analytical video about Robertson's Crusaders, I believe Razor will take the ABs towards a similar, near-positionless Crusader-esque style of rugby. That will take time and patience. It will also take the whole staff sharing and believing in the vision. Maybe it doesn't pan out, but if you are bumping heads with your fellow coaches 5 games into your tenure, surely its best to course correct immediately rather than plod on, butting heads, suffering defeats without making genuine progress towards your vision. Not bringing Tony Brown into the fold with Razor was/is a MASSIVE failure on the part of everyone who was involved in that decision. THe fact he has joined SAfrica is disasterous. Beating SA has always been hard... (beyond hard)... but now... imagine you have one of NZs BEST backline coaches, a literal rugby genius, taking the Boks backs to the next level.... sheesh... this is going to be a long few next years.
@roleinc7204 thanks for sharing this articulate piece, I for one enjoyed reading it. I mirror your sentiments and subsequently I just posted an opinion piece on the community page of this channel that you may like to read.
Totally agree 👍My opinion Rassie ERASMUS "grabbed" him at the right time Rassie has watched him for a long time while he was playing in SA! The Springboks are blessed to have him in our ranks!!🙏 🇿🇦
I find it strange that they not "forthright"with the N.Zealand public.🤔 **In South Africa the Springboks belong to "ALL OF US" As OUR Captain said"They playing for all South Africans" We never question RASSIE ERASMUS decisions!! *Rassie selects his team "early" then has a News release to explain his selections to the SA.public! 🇿🇦 🇿🇦
It is good that MacDonald has agreed to go somewhat quietly now and not later. He and Robertson were not seeing the same gameplan on the attacking side of the ball. Clearly this was causing some confusion and tension among the coaching group, and it is better he goes before something similar filters down to the players, assuming it hasn't done so already. I would venture that Leon would have liked Sotutu to have been selected in the squad and to have played a system that is not dissimilar to that of the Blues. Leon may also be the reason why the ABs have persevered with Reiko at center and given plenty of game time to Clark, Talea, Bazz and Perofeta (when fit). Robertson is now free to select Proctor as his center and be more creative with his backfield and pivot combinations. He may even feel he has more latitude in selecting the loose forward trio and playing them in different positions to tactically deal with the Boks...Vai'i at 6, Savea at 7, and Sititi at 8 with Blackadder and Cane coming off the bench? Can't wait to see what happens next week! MacDonald is a good coach and servant of the game...he's done the right thing by resigning now and will get a good head coaching job (international or with one of the better professional club sides) without much difficulty. I wish him the best.
@Buster62 first off, thank you for subscribing last week, I appreciate it. Yes many questions will be answered no doubt over the course of the next few weeks in South Africa. Will there be greater clarity around the group. We will see, thanks for the comment
Quite an interesting decision and the timing sucks - Leon is very loyal so it would have been a difficult decision to make. My take is that he disagreed with the leverage given to Scott Hansen (and as you say at 9/10) in decision making processes. Looking at Scott Hansen's history, he was not an AB or regular player at a top level (2 games for the Crusaders) and a fairly lackluster coaching resume. I suspect Leon left because he didn't have total control on the backline he wanted and indecisive support from Razor. But what do I know :)
@@insiderugbywithmark Agreed - fun to speculate. Leon is a good Blenheim lad - wouldn’t be surprised he gets a head coaching job for an international team.
I think that Razor & Leon had different coaching philosophy's & therefore it's in the best interests of the ABs that they parted company rather than causing division within the team
Personally I hope Scott & Leon can make amends, differences in opinion of direction might be the secret to our success at the moment, my team would've picked up the vibe on truly what's been going down of late. It's like a divorce, and hiding from the kids type of situation really.
Just stumbled across your channel, and i really liked your cadence and knowledgeable opinion. You have a new subscriber Mark. Looking forward to your thoughts further on in the championship, hopefully your channel will blow up even more so that you can colaborate with other great lads like Squidge and Eggchasers. Lots of love and support from South Africa. Good luck on the upcoming matches.
@martinvg6070 welcome and thank you. It is great to have you on board, and please contribute whenever you like, this is what my channel is all about, you, the global rugby fans.
Great content as always, Mark. I thought the interview with Razor was extremely tense after the resignation. I hope everything is ok and well some great footy in SA.
Yes, the presser was awkward and mates departing ways is never easy to handle. I am sure everyone will move on and become tighter. Thanks for the comment.
@@insiderugbywithmark I agree. NZRFU let us believe that. If it was that way then that's what they put to Fozzie. Either they go, or we sack you. So would any head coach say, "Hey ok, I'll leave cause I don't want you getting rid of them". They would have been gone if Fozzie went anyway. Leon has left as Razor was restricting his role. He is meant to be attack coach so that is his job. If Razor weren't happy, then he shouldn't have hired him. The attack hasn't performed all year. You can't blame Leon for all of it. Scott is meant to put forward the way he wants them to play. As you said, he didn't have control over the most important place in the backline. Where it is all meant to start and I don't believe selection wasn't one of the issues.
I don't agree, Plum is not a good coach. All you need to do is look how poorly a Springbok laden Sharks team did in the URC with him as coach. I wish the Sharks will get a proper coach.
Great news, nothing to be sad about, this now clears the air and everyone can move on. We all dont know what issues this was causing for the team. Thanks for the comment
By no means is this a bad thing for the All Blacks. Clearly Razor and MacDonald weren't seeing eye to eye in regards to things within the team and setup. So it's better that MacDonald steps away now, instead of later when things could potentially get worse. This won't affect the All Blacks in the slightest, if anything it will galvanize them even more as they head to South Africa. Especially if it means that the message and game plan around attack is clearer.
As an aside, I see Felix Jones has just resigned from the England squad! Looking forward to the 'Old Foe' battles here in South Africa over the next few weeks. On this side of the pond there is a lot of confidence and belief that the Boks will come out on top. I'm a little more reserved perhaps. AB's stumbled against the Argies but then in the 2nd test schooled them. I'm looking forward to this, but am sitting firmly on the fence with regards to the end results. Good luck to both teams
Never rated McDonald that highly as a coach. He really only had a couple of good seasons with the Blues, both of them with Joe Schmidt looking over his shoulder. Once Schmidt moved on they immediately tanked. He also noticeably robbed Beauden Barrett of his running game, and generally seemed to sabotage his star players confidence. With only his short Super Rugby career and no international coaching experience whatsoever, youd have to say he was an odd choice for the ABs, but looking at it objectively you'd have to say Scott Robertson doesn't seem like a guy thats comfortable having someone else more knowledgeable than him on his staff, hence his unwillingness to work with Schmidt when the question came up in 2022.
That's a bit unfair on McDonald. He took an underperforming Blues team and got them to the 2022 final, won their first title in the truncated Super Rugby in 2021 and made them genuine contenders in Super Rugby. Coaches have done less and been All Black Assistants. Right now we have Scott Hansen, what has he done. When it comes down to it Razor said in his programme they had a different way of looking at rugby but still he picked him. This is on Razor, no one else. As a coach, and I was one, you don't select assistants who have a different outlook and expect them to bend to your rule. You choose people who you share philosophies with. That's how players get mixed messages, when 2 coaches look at things differently.
The one thing certain for me is that by year end we will know just how operated Robertson is as a coach. We will also likely be introduced to a new level of gobbledegook a la John Mitchell 20 yrs ago. I am personally sick of and confused by the garbage we get served up at the press conferences. It's no surprise to me that the players are confused!
The Kiwis will be out looking for blood, I feel some hard competition coming to SA. We have always heard it said, "Never underestimate a wounded springbok", and I think it carries the same gravitas when eyes are on New Zealand. They will be looking to reestablish their dominance in world rugby. Good luck to all your boys. Love from SA.
Thanks for creating this forum to express my long winded fan boy opinions! Razor as head coach, decides what’s not working for him, so this is about Leon not doing a good enough job for him and this is Razor’s decision alone imo We’ve lacked fluidity and shown weak strategy on exit plays. ‘Not aligned’ maybe also means, didn’t come up with strategies to counter line speed? because innovation there, is what most needs addressing for our back play imo. To me it’s a very strong decision on Razor’s part, putting the team ahead of loyalty to a guy he was close to, unlike Ian Foster having to be forced into necessary coaching changes by NZR. In the big SR games Razor consistently outcoached Leon, who doesn’t strike me as an innovator and i’ll go with Razor’s judgment on this Leon did grow Blues after Tana but it was Cotter who took Blues to next level domination this year (a coach with wide experience coaching overseas) Am not sure why NZR show so much confidence in Leon at a still unproven stage of his young coaching career. If Jason Ryan could have gone to Foster whilst ‘still with’ Razor, it’s a pity Tony Brown couldn’t break with Jamie Joseph and do the same for Razor once he got the job. Maybe committed already or maybe Razor made a poor call in not getting Browny onboard - if he had the chance? Brown coaching Boks seems like a double blow, we don’t have him, whilst he has a deep talent pool to work with via a very large population of non white athletes, ever embracing Rugby, when they used to be only into football and in the crowd supporting AB’s lol Razor has a very big task to get us back to no.1. With 5 away games against these top teams to come, for mine, just staying no 3 ranking seems good end of year outcome because Razor and his whole coaching team have minimal international coaching or overseas coaching experience v’s the best in modern era Ted/Hansen/Schmidt - all coming back as much better coaches from long stints coaching international and overseas, as i hope Leon will one day.
@TheRickpage I enjoyed reading this, plenty of interesting, and debatable points. One thing I may add if I can, when the 2027 RWC rocks around no one, and I mean no one will remember the 2024 Rugby Championship competition. Now is the time to experiment until the cows come home. Win, lose or draw, build depth and do it now.
@@insiderugbywithmark if im to delve further into it, without knowing of course, id say leon was overcomplicating the backline. He also had offers from other clubs that would of given him absolute power and this created a drama of sorts. Fast forward to the Argentina game where we played simply and won. Leon leaves. All nice words said as leon needs to get re-employed again. Its a positive step. Or it can be. But if we lose twice to the boks, the pressure will come on hard and razor will look bad and leon will look good even if the result may of been the same with him there. Fan pressure. So im hoping success is in south Africa for the abs so that they can move forwards clear headed
This type of thing can have an unsettling effect on a team particularly so early into a new coaching ticket and just before two major test games. You could be right as in it could motivate the AB's even more but then again it could have the opposite effect. Nervy times for AB fans.
well well well. When Razor announced his coaching team I was not convinced by the Leon M and Jason H inclusions. They did not come across as visionaries. I am a Canes man that has ties to Auckland. The backline is clunky and short of cohesion and fluidity. A good move.
@duncanwcraig9668 first off, thank you for subscribing to my channel. I agree on the backline and it will be fascinating to see what happens in this next chapter, over 80mins at altitude in Jo Burg and then down to sea level in Cape Town.
This is Razors biggest test coming his way , I feel that if the Boks win comfortably in both games , Razor will be under a immense amount of pressure from kiwi fans / media ect , this resignation could be the catalyst to the demise of Razor ???? So excited to see what happens 😊
@KJTmethod you have been supporting my channel a while, so thank you for that first, secondly interesting comment. Yes Razors biggest test after he got over top of England (just). The outcomes of both games will result in a number of questions being answered. Leons departure may be a blessing.
I think we should ease up on the pressure on Razor. It's only his first year of a four year project. I respect Mils Muliaina and even he said at the start of the season that he's okay if we lose four or five games this year if we're building to 2027. I think that's a good philosophy
@@insiderugbywithmark yeap I agree with you. We expect to win every game which is tough against top five teams these days. It doesn't leave much room for experimentation. Plus I think it's a quiet few days for the nz sports press, so they'll blow this Leon MacDonald thing up to be bigger than it should be
Hansen picking the 9 and 10? If true and Hansen is the sole person picking the match date 9, 10 that's not wired. That's just dumb. Different story if Razor chose them
I have watched the video / interview of Hansen online where he confirms that Razor has given him the responsibility to select and develop the ABs No 9 and 10. In a separate interview Razor confirmed this. Thanks for your comment. Just a side note. Over 80% of my regular viewers have not yet hit the subscribe button. If you are one, could you please help me in my aim to help the great game of rugby grow across the world. Thank you.
@@insiderugbywithmark After the first England test Razor was asked, do you think the players are hearing too many voices and he said, It's just a matter of them getting use to the game plan. After the second he said maybe it is, and then blamed the players for not sticking to the game plan (which he also did after the 1st Argentina test). So you have to wonder if the problems were way back then and Razor started taking control which led to the current situation. With Henry, Hansen was always the assistant they spoke to, with Hansen it was always Foster, Foster, it was McLeod, and with Razor it's various ones. I have to wonder whether part of it is that Razor is playing them off against each other also.
Thnx mark gr8 channel,my question is too many assistants for razor? I smell a toxic environment on the eve to take on the boks? Not good at all, and we will welcome u guys with open arms
@ShaheedManie-nd4os Thanks so much for the comment and question. I have just posted a piece on the community page with my thoughts around this if you would like to check it out.
If the players truly believe in Razor's philosophy and vision and direction, then there will not be any consequences with players' loyalty, team harmony and bonds, as a result of LM's resignation. I believe this will be the case.
@Wellyyoung thank you for subscribing last month, its great to have you on board. Yes, I suspect we will see little impact as we move forward. Thanks for the comment
Interesting. Sad that Scott Hansen is remaining - I've seen him speak at length about the All Black's loss using only management-speak with almost no single rugby term in the whole piece. If he can speak Rugby it would be good to hear it one day. If he can't speak it, he probably can't think it either.
@tainuikuru8103 hola in Canada. Just a side note. Over 80% of my regular viewers have not yet hit the subscribe button. If you are one, could you please help me in my aim to help the great game of rugby grow across the world. Thank you.
I see this in the context of the entire group and where they are in the cycle. There is a completely new regime in place and it's still finding its feet. The previous regime stretches way back to Hansen and co. That's a lot of continuity of organisation and philosophy to reestablish. There have been some changes in personel (though in my view not enough of them or the right ones in many cases) so why not in the coaching team? Razor is terrible in front of the press, I didn't know this about him until he became the AB coach, but I think I can interpret him okay, and I think I believe him on this - they weren't "clicking" (clicking was the word they all came up with in preparation for the media standups). Win or lose, I prefer to have Razor imposing his approach on the entire group, I don't want some disfunctional Frankenstein approach.
@Generative_Midi_ some good points here thanks for sharing it. I also would add this as a thought. Razor had 10 days with the team before they kicked off with England. Next to know time to bring in the changes you spoke of. Its work in progress, and if you are not on board with the plan, then there is the door. Works for me.
@@insiderugbywithmark Absolutely. But I was dissapointed with his selections there. He was way too conservative, and Perofeta aside he showed almost zero creativity (and anyway, was that a MacDonald call?). To me it was about uncertainty and a lack of confidence rather than vision. That's ok for England first up at home, but a lack of risk taking will get us nowhere.
Did anyone notice razor has dyed his hair a darker colour? trying to look more like a pro? losing confidence in himself? not being himself but wants players to?
Scott Robertson comes across as weird when he talks to the media. I'm not sure Scott Robertson is the right coach for the ABs. I may be wrong but time will tell.
@charleschurch4901 thanks for sharing your opinion. A little information you may not know. Scott has autism and has openly admitted all of his coaching career speaking in public is something that challenges him. He´s not weird. He is a human being doing the very best he can with the tools he has been given. His performance as an All Black coach will be assessed like all of the rest of them.
Most of the negative comments I've heard involve Damien McKenzie and Coach Robertson has thus far shown support for DMac so my guess is the issue causing the split likely surrounds this player.
The AB's are always a threat, this will not affect them! SAvsNZ always brings out the best, possibly world rugby's greatest rivalry, I expect nothing less from the ABs the series is going to be epic!
This is like andy farrell throwing mike catt under the bus and dying his hair a new colour. His struggles are making the rugby championship interesting though
Hi Mate looks very nice where you live better than the land long white cloud roughly how much a month does it cost to live in Cancun way cheaper than NZ or AU I bet
Hola Phillip. Thanks for the question. Look a difficult one to answer. Depends all on what kind of lifestyle you want etc. México is a very affordable place to live compared to those countries you listed. Always pluses and minuses no matter where you live in the world. NZ is pretty cracker mate.
Gday Mark question. dyou have a get out o Jail card 😊 Razor and Rangi go back a ways both men coming to this decision on the eve of departure for the biggest challenge in world rugby for me shows maturity and respect for the All blacks both men only want the best but for whatever reasons sometimes things don't workout i respect both men for not allowing their differences to disrupt the squad moving forward. Onwards.
@rodeo4786 I am onboard with this thinking totally. For the sake of the team. Absolutely. Because no one, other than the two people involved, speculation will continue, thats human nature I guess. What ultimately matter now is, was the sacrifice resulting in better long term performances. Thanks for the comment
of interest - rugby does not hold the level of interest it once held in NZ . it was almost a week before i even heard that the championship was on and that Argentina beat the all blacks
Please do not go to the US from Cancun! Trump wouldn't like it! Ha! Ha! Ha! All the best to the AB'S! As a Safrican, I hope Am plays and that Kolbe ONLY plays on the wing!
Scott Robertson must be backed as head coach and given full support from assistant coaches ...players and fans its as simple as that. .LeonMcdonald couldnt click with the head coach and for the good of the team .. moved on...now lets get over it and extract some revenge on the springboks for the world cup loss that was gifted to them by very poor refereeing decisions
McDonald walking away from AB's job is a sign that Razor is taking control, he is the head coach. You need to look at the history between Razor and McDonald, to understand why I believe that Razor never picked McDonald in the first case. Going forward and selections, will also show what was wrong with the AB's attack. The fix is not going to be overnight, but it is a start, staying with a unit that fails is silly to say the least. ABs are there to win.......first, second and last.......taking part is a B/S option, ask the yappies and Rassie.
Thanks for your informative commentary Mark. As a SA fan, I hope instability does not affect the mighty AB’s. I am expecting a tight affair in SA and would be very surprised if the Boks win both tests. I am privileged to have watched the AB’s play the top 10 test nations live and have huge respect for their talent and stubborn determination. Sterkte Bokke!
Hola Bokke, very lucky indeed to see the ABs play that many nations. I dont think this will have a negative impact on the lads. Expect a battle Royale
We are looking forward to welcoming the All Blacks. Such a privilege to have them come and play here.
@christopherwyndham-mellor7065 Thank you very much, and for us, SA is the best place in the world to tour, the country, the people, the passion for rugby and the level of competition, it does not get any better for us.
Sorry to hear about that news Mark. I trust the team will handle this! Good luck!
Could be fantastic news. If there is dysfunction going on in the group best to deal with it and move on. Thanks for the comment
Thanks Mark. Good to hear your views about this, as a Kiwi. I think it won't effect them. I don't think its a factor at all. The players will now "play for razor" on a whole new level.
Excellent, lets see if in fact that happens. Thank you for the comment
My guess Razor was not happy with the attack and tried to input more in it and McDonald didn't appreciate it...
Could well have been that, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I think it’s a positive,
This isn’t working, let’s end it now and move on .
Job done, thanks very much for the comment
Thanks Mark for sharing your opinion. That press conference was very awkward from what I can tell, seemed to me if he didn't "resign" he probably would've been fired.
Oh yes with the break this week, I hope you can cover the nations cup too. That will be amazing.
Indeed it was, as with most things, much more to the story. Thanks for the comment
Fellow ABs fans who think the sky is falling need to chill. ABs backline has NOT looked sharp in any game except vs Fiji... which is not saying much. Beauden Barret has pulled our hineys from the fire to squeak past England. We fell to Argentina at home. And in the rain last week, it was our forwards who did the damage in the first 50 mins to win the game. Losing MacDonald is NOT a negative. We don't know if it will be a positive. At worst we keep the status quo.
After watching a brilliant analytical video about Robertson's Crusaders, I believe Razor will take the ABs towards a similar, near-positionless Crusader-esque style of rugby. That will take time and patience. It will also take the whole staff sharing and believing in the vision. Maybe it doesn't pan out, but if you are bumping heads with your fellow coaches 5 games into your tenure, surely its best to course correct immediately rather than plod on, butting heads, suffering defeats without making genuine progress towards your vision.
Not bringing Tony Brown into the fold with Razor was/is a MASSIVE failure on the part of everyone who was involved in that decision. THe fact he has joined SAfrica is disasterous. Beating SA has always been hard... (beyond hard)... but now... imagine you have one of NZs BEST backline coaches, a literal rugby genius, taking the Boks backs to the next level.... sheesh... this is going to be a long few next years.
@roleinc7204 thanks for sharing this articulate piece, I for one enjoyed reading it. I mirror your sentiments and subsequently I just posted an opinion piece on the community page of this channel that you may like to read.
Totally agree 👍My opinion Rassie ERASMUS "grabbed" him at the right time Rassie has watched him for a long time while he was playing in SA! The Springboks are blessed to have him in our ranks!!🙏 🇿🇦
I find it strange that they not "forthright"with the N.Zealand public.🤔 **In South Africa the Springboks belong to "ALL OF US" As OUR Captain said"They playing for all South Africans" We never question RASSIE ERASMUS decisions!! *Rassie selects his team "early" then has a News release to explain his selections to the SA.public! 🇿🇦 🇿🇦
It is good that MacDonald has agreed to go somewhat quietly now and not later. He and Robertson were not seeing the same gameplan on the attacking side of the ball. Clearly this was causing some confusion and tension among the coaching group, and it is better he goes before something similar filters down to the players, assuming it hasn't done so already. I would venture that Leon would have liked Sotutu to have been selected in the squad and to have played a system that is not dissimilar to that of the Blues. Leon may also be the reason why the ABs have persevered with Reiko at center and given plenty of game time to Clark, Talea, Bazz and Perofeta (when fit). Robertson is now free to select Proctor as his center and be more creative with his backfield and pivot combinations. He may even feel he has more latitude in selecting the loose forward trio and playing them in different positions to tactically deal with the Boks...Vai'i at 6, Savea at 7, and Sititi at 8 with Blackadder and Cane coming off the bench? Can't wait to see what happens next week! MacDonald is a good coach and servant of the game...he's done the right thing by resigning now and will get a good head coaching job (international or with one of the better professional club sides) without much difficulty. I wish him the best.
@Buster62 first off, thank you for subscribing last week, I appreciate it. Yes many questions will be answered no doubt over the course of the next few weeks in South Africa. Will there be greater clarity around the group. We will see, thanks for the comment
Quite an interesting decision and the timing sucks - Leon is very loyal so it would have been a difficult decision to make. My take is that he disagreed with the leverage given to Scott Hansen (and as you say at 9/10) in decision making processes. Looking at Scott Hansen's history, he was not an AB or regular player at a top level (2 games for the Crusaders) and a fairly lackluster coaching resume. I suspect Leon left because he didn't have total control on the backline he wanted and indecisive support from Razor. But what do I know :)
Well one thing is for sure, and that is we are all in the same boat when it comes to knowing the truth. Thanks for your comment.
@@insiderugbywithmark Agreed - fun to speculate. Leon is a good Blenheim lad - wouldn’t be surprised he gets a head coaching job for an international team.
I think that Razor & Leon had different coaching philosophy's & therefore it's in the best interests of the ABs that they parted company rather than causing division within the team
Personally I hope Scott & Leon can make amends, differences in opinion of direction might be the secret to our success at the moment, my team would've picked up the vibe on truly what's been going down of late. It's like a divorce, and hiding from the kids type of situation really.
Indeed, thanks for this comment
Agree
Just stumbled across your channel, and i really liked your cadence and knowledgeable opinion. You have a new subscriber Mark. Looking forward to your thoughts further on in the championship, hopefully your channel will blow up even more so that you can colaborate with other great lads like Squidge and Eggchasers. Lots of love and support from South Africa. Good luck on the upcoming matches.
@martinvg6070 welcome and thank you. It is great to have you on board, and please contribute whenever you like, this is what my channel is all about, you, the global rugby fans.
Great content as always, Mark. I thought the interview with Razor was extremely tense after the resignation. I hope everything is ok and well some great footy in SA.
Yes, the presser was awkward and mates departing ways is never easy to handle. I am sure everyone will move on and become tighter. Thanks for the comment.
Big difference between Plumtree and moar(fired) they were thrown under the bus by fozzy. Leon decided that he should step down big difference
Or that was the way it was sold to us. Thanks for your comment.
@@insiderugbywithmark I agree. NZRFU let us believe that. If it was that way then that's what they put to Fozzie. Either they go, or we sack you. So would any head coach say, "Hey ok, I'll leave cause I don't want you getting rid of them". They would have been gone if Fozzie went anyway. Leon has left as Razor was restricting his role. He is meant to be attack coach so that is his job. If Razor weren't happy, then he shouldn't have hired him. The attack hasn't performed all year. You can't blame Leon for all of it. Scott is meant to put forward the way he wants them to play. As you said, he didn't have control over the most important place in the backline. Where it is all meant to start and I don't believe selection wasn't one of the issues.
Yep! Definitely
I don't agree, Plum is not a good coach. All you need to do is look how poorly a Springbok laden Sharks team did in the URC with him as coach. I wish the Sharks will get a proper coach.
Sorry Mark sorry to hear hope you good I'm a springbok fan
Great news, nothing to be sad about, this now clears the air and everyone can move on. We all dont know what issues this was causing for the team. Thanks for the comment
By no means is this a bad thing for the All Blacks. Clearly Razor and MacDonald weren't seeing eye to eye in regards to things within the team and setup. So it's better that MacDonald steps away now, instead of later when things could potentially get worse.
This won't affect the All Blacks in the slightest, if anything it will galvanize them even more as they head to South Africa. Especially if it means that the message and game plan around attack is clearer.
Situation will definitely bring more televised viewing, there's nothing like drama in my Team (AB's) for shooting up interest in national Rugby Union.
No such thing as bad press eh.
As an aside, I see Felix Jones has just resigned from the England squad!
Looking forward to the 'Old Foe' battles here in South Africa over the next few weeks. On this side of the pond there is a lot of confidence and belief that the Boks will come out on top. I'm a little more reserved perhaps. AB's stumbled against the Argies but then in the 2nd test schooled them. I'm looking forward to this, but am sitting firmly on the fence with regards to the end results.
Good luck to both teams
@Vlerkies I posted today about Felix.
Lets see what happens, gonna be very very interesting game 1
Thank you for the comment
Never rated McDonald that highly as a coach. He really only had a couple of good seasons with the Blues, both of them with Joe Schmidt looking over his shoulder. Once Schmidt moved on they immediately tanked. He also noticeably robbed Beauden Barrett of his running game, and generally seemed to sabotage his star players confidence. With only his short Super Rugby career and no international coaching experience whatsoever, youd have to say he was an odd choice for the ABs, but looking at it objectively you'd have to say Scott Robertson doesn't seem like a guy thats comfortable having someone else more knowledgeable than him on his staff, hence his unwillingness to work with Schmidt when the question came up in 2022.
@Formakiwi excellent, thanks for sharing your opinion on this one, some nuggets among it.
That's a bit unfair on McDonald. He took an underperforming Blues team and got them to the 2022 final, won their first title in the truncated Super Rugby in 2021 and made them genuine contenders in Super Rugby. Coaches have done less and been All Black Assistants. Right now we have Scott Hansen, what has he done. When it comes down to it Razor said in his programme they had a different way of looking at rugby but still he picked him. This is on Razor, no one else. As a coach, and I was one, you don't select assistants who have a different outlook and expect them to bend to your rule. You choose people who you share philosophies with. That's how players get mixed messages, when 2 coaches look at things differently.
Oh crap I asked on your other clip about this sorry mark you have answered my question thanks mate from Auckland
No problem, all good.
I suppose that the only positive in this is that it happened early on, rather than fester for months before damaging team morale.
@shaneelbachoo2480 I think you / we will find out that there were many positives to this decision in the short, medium and long term
The one thing certain for me is that by year end we will know just how operated Robertson is as a coach. We will also likely be introduced to a new level of gobbledegook a la John Mitchell 20 yrs ago. I am personally sick of and confused by the garbage we get served up at the press conferences. It's no surprise to me that the players are confused!
@brucetucker4365 , I am with you, most of the time the pressers serve little purpose and its a no win situation. Thanks for the comment
Our attack was confusing for sure. Not a good sign right before playing the one hell of a Boks side at home
Thanks for the comment, lets see how it all pans out.
The Kiwis will be out looking for blood, I feel some hard competition coming to SA. We have always heard it said, "Never underestimate a wounded springbok", and I think it carries the same gravitas when eyes are on New Zealand. They will be looking to reestablish their dominance in world rugby. Good luck to all your boys. Love from SA.
Thanks for creating this forum to express my long winded fan boy opinions!
Razor as head coach, decides what’s not working for him, so this is about Leon not doing a good enough job for him and this is Razor’s decision alone imo
We’ve lacked fluidity and shown weak strategy on exit plays.
‘Not aligned’ maybe also means, didn’t come up with strategies to counter line speed? because innovation there, is what most needs addressing for our back play imo.
To me it’s a very strong decision on Razor’s part, putting the team ahead of loyalty to a guy he was close to, unlike Ian Foster having to be forced into necessary coaching changes by NZR.
In the big SR games Razor consistently outcoached Leon, who doesn’t strike me as an innovator and i’ll go with Razor’s judgment on this
Leon did grow Blues after Tana but it was Cotter who took Blues to next level domination this year (a coach with wide experience coaching overseas)
Am not sure why NZR show so much confidence in Leon at a still unproven stage of his young coaching career.
If Jason Ryan could have gone to Foster whilst ‘still with’ Razor, it’s a pity Tony Brown couldn’t break with Jamie Joseph and do the same for Razor once he got the job.
Maybe committed already or maybe Razor made a poor call in not getting Browny onboard - if he had the chance?
Brown coaching Boks seems like a double blow, we don’t have him, whilst he has a deep talent pool to work with via a very large population of non white athletes, ever embracing Rugby, when they used to be only into football and in the crowd supporting AB’s lol Razor has a very big task to get us back to no.1.
With 5 away games against these top teams to come, for mine, just staying no 3 ranking seems good end of year outcome because Razor and his whole coaching team have minimal international coaching or overseas coaching experience v’s the best in modern era Ted/Hansen/Schmidt - all coming back as much better coaches from long stints coaching international and overseas, as i hope Leon will one day.
@TheRickpage I enjoyed reading this, plenty of interesting, and debatable points. One thing I may add if I can, when the 2027 RWC rocks around no one, and I mean no one will remember the 2024 Rugby Championship competition. Now is the time to experiment until the cows come home. Win, lose or draw, build depth and do it now.
I think this is swift and well played by razor. Create the vision. Get it done. Not onboard, see ya.
Thats what I think as well, if those are all of the facts. Thanks for your comment
@@insiderugbywithmark if im to delve further into it, without knowing of course, id say leon was overcomplicating the backline. He also had offers from other clubs that would of given him absolute power and this created a drama of sorts. Fast forward to the Argentina game where we played simply and won. Leon leaves. All nice words said as leon needs to get re-employed again. Its a positive step. Or it can be. But if we lose twice to the boks, the pressure will come on hard and razor will look bad and leon will look good even if the result may of been the same with him there. Fan pressure. So im hoping success is in south Africa for the abs so that they can move forwards clear headed
This type of thing can have an unsettling effect on a team particularly so early into a new coaching ticket and just before two major test games.
You could be right as in it could motivate the AB's even more but then again it could have the opposite effect.
Nervy times for AB fans.
Thank you for the comment, Correct, we need to wait and see what way the cookie crumbles.
Hope Tony Brown stays with the Boks and does not go back to NZ
@@jameswebb-hl2vu surely Tony Brown has a watertight contract?
@jameswebb-hl2vu I am sure he will stay.
The Bokks are playing outstanding rugby bought a freshness to the game
I’m sure Brown will stay. He has a long standing relationship with Rassie and he’s coaching some elite athletes.
@@sox7784 Rubbish .😊
well well well. When Razor announced his coaching team I was not convinced by the Leon M and Jason H inclusions. They did not come across as visionaries. I am a Canes man that has ties to Auckland. The backline is clunky and short of cohesion and fluidity. A good move.
@duncanwcraig9668
first off, thank you for subscribing to my channel. I agree on the backline and it will be fascinating to see what happens in this next chapter, over 80mins at altitude in Jo Burg and then down to sea level in Cape Town.
This is Razors biggest test coming his way , I feel that if the Boks win comfortably in both games , Razor will be under a immense amount of pressure from kiwi fans / media ect , this resignation could be the catalyst to the demise of Razor ????
So excited to see what happens 😊
@KJTmethod you have been supporting my channel a while, so thank you for that first, secondly interesting comment. Yes Razors biggest test after he got over top of England (just). The outcomes of both games will result in a number of questions being answered. Leons departure may be a blessing.
I think we should ease up on the pressure on Razor. It's only his first year of a four year project. I respect Mils Muliaina and even he said at the start of the season that he's okay if we lose four or five games this year if we're building to 2027. I think that's a good philosophy
@aza109954 I am with you on this, so thanks for making the comment. Problem is Kiwis, us Kiwis. Expectations.
@@insiderugbywithmark yeap I agree with you. We expect to win every game which is tough against top five teams these days. It doesn't leave much room for experimentation. Plus I think it's a quiet few days for the nz sports press, so they'll blow this Leon MacDonald thing up to be bigger than it should be
Thank you
Hansen picking the 9 and 10? If true and Hansen is the sole person picking the match date 9, 10 that's not wired. That's just dumb. Different story if Razor chose them
I have watched the video / interview of Hansen online where he confirms that Razor has given him the responsibility to select and develop the ABs No 9 and 10. In a separate interview Razor confirmed this. Thanks for your comment.
Just a side note. Over 80% of my regular viewers have not yet hit the subscribe button. If you are one, could you please help me in my aim to help the great game of rugby grow across the world. Thank you.
@@insiderugbywithmark After the first England test Razor was asked, do you think the players are hearing too many voices and he said, It's just a matter of them getting use to the game plan. After the second he said maybe it is, and then blamed the players for not sticking to the game plan (which he also did after the 1st Argentina test). So you have to wonder if the problems were way back then and Razor started taking control which led to the current situation. With Henry, Hansen was always the assistant they spoke to, with Hansen it was always Foster, Foster, it was McLeod, and with Razor it's various ones. I have to wonder whether part of it is that Razor is playing them off against each other also.
Thnx mark gr8 channel,my question is too many assistants for razor? I smell a toxic environment on the eve to take on the boks? Not good at all, and we will welcome u guys with open arms
@ShaheedManie-nd4os Thanks so much for the comment and question. I have just posted a piece on the community page with my thoughts around this if you would like to check it out.
Leon McDonald had multiple head injuries in his playing days , I would imagine he would have a short fuse now a days
Well thats a new take, thank you for making it known.
If the players truly believe in Razor's philosophy and vision and direction, then there will not be any consequences with players' loyalty, team harmony and bonds, as a result of LM's resignation. I believe this will be the case.
@Wellyyoung thank you for subscribing last month, its great to have you on board. Yes, I suspect we will see little impact as we move forward. Thanks for the comment
Interesting. Sad that Scott Hansen is remaining - I've seen him speak at length about the All Black's loss using only management-speak with almost no single rugby term in the whole piece. If he can speak Rugby it would be good to hear it one day. If he can't speak it, he probably can't think it either.
Thanks for sharing your views on Scott Hansen.
Hope the team handle it and dont let it distract them.
We will find out soon enough. Thank you for the comment
Thanks for the thoughts mate! Watching and following from 🇨🇦
I resonated with what you wrote about being an All Blacks fan overseas vs in New Zealand.
@tainuikuru8103 hola in Canada.
Just a side note. Over 80% of my regular viewers have not yet hit the subscribe button. If you are one, could you please help me in my aim to help the great game of rugby grow across the world. Thank you.
Life goes on the the AB train will just roll along and biz as usual.
Thanks for the comment. I imagine they will. Enjoy
I see this in the context of the entire group and where they are in the cycle. There is a completely new regime in place and it's still finding its feet. The previous regime stretches way back to Hansen and co. That's a lot of continuity of organisation and philosophy to reestablish. There have been some changes in personel (though in my view not enough of them or the right ones in many cases) so why not in the coaching team? Razor is terrible in front of the press, I didn't know this about him until he became the AB coach, but I think I can interpret him okay, and I think I believe him on this - they weren't "clicking" (clicking was the word they all came up with in preparation for the media standups). Win or lose, I prefer to have Razor imposing his approach on the entire group, I don't want some disfunctional Frankenstein approach.
@Generative_Midi_ some good points here thanks for sharing it. I also would add this as a thought. Razor had 10 days with the team before they kicked off with England. Next to know time to bring in the changes you spoke of. Its work in progress, and if you are not on board with the plan, then there is the door. Works for me.
@@insiderugbywithmark Absolutely. But I was dissapointed with his selections there. He was way too conservative, and Perofeta aside he showed almost zero creativity (and anyway, was that a MacDonald call?). To me it was about uncertainty and a lack of confidence rather than vision. That's ok for England first up at home, but a lack of risk taking will get us nowhere.
Plummer is a big mistake. Not All Black material IMO. The defense coach is the one who should resign.
@kerrygrimshaw7420 I am interested to know what you dont like about Harry Plummer?
@@insiderugbywithmark Check his history of failures at the big moment. And he is not a game breaker like Barrett, McKenzie, Mounga and Carter.
Did anyone notice razor has dyed his hair a darker colour? trying to look more like a pro? losing confidence in himself? not being himself but wants players to?
Thanks for your comment
Did he really dye his hair 😅
Who cares,I'm here for the Rugby !
Scott Robertson comes across as weird when he talks to the media. I'm not sure Scott Robertson is the right coach for the ABs. I may be wrong but time will tell.
@charleschurch4901 thanks for sharing your opinion. A little information you may not know. Scott has autism and has openly admitted all of his coaching career speaking in public is something that challenges him. He´s not weird. He is a human being doing the very best he can with the tools he has been given. His performance as an All Black coach will be assessed like all of the rest of them.
Most of the negative comments I've heard involve Damien McKenzie and Coach Robertson has thus far shown support for DMac so my guess is the issue causing the split likely surrounds this player.
@erichaskell thanks for raising it, thing is, we just dont know do we. Yet. Thanks for the comment
The AB's are always a threat, this will not affect them!
SAvsNZ always brings out the best, possibly world rugby's greatest rivalry, I expect nothing less from the ABs the series is going to be epic!
Leon MacDonald hasn’t done much in coaching, so no big loss. There are still too many in the coaching set up that razor needs to get rid of.
@user-rg7wc7qf9y it appears to be happening, now lets see if its a trend.
This is like andy farrell throwing mike catt under the bus and dying his hair a new colour. His struggles are making the rugby championship interesting though
Thanks so much for sharing your views.
Leon wanted BB at 10
Maybe.
How do you know that is fact ?
I was thinking the same
Similar to Hart / Wylie ... sometimes best to avoid contrasting styles.
@alanhayward8237 well said
Hi Mate looks very nice where you live better than the land long white cloud roughly how much a month does it cost to live in Cancun way cheaper than NZ or AU I bet
Hola Phillip. Thanks for the question. Look a difficult one to answer. Depends all on what kind of lifestyle you want etc. México is a very affordable place to live compared to those countries you listed. Always pluses and minuses no matter where you live in the world. NZ is pretty cracker mate.
But all blacks hav to win if they wna win championship
Yes indeed.
Boks don’t need Brown NZ need a miracle. Enter Wayne Smith ⚡️⚡️
Ha ha, Old Smithy, why not.
Razor had a plan but that plan shot to pieces, A wise man say stick to the plan
Bad idea
What was the plan?
Gday Mark question. dyou have a get out o Jail card 😊 Razor and Rangi go back a ways both men coming to this decision on the eve of departure for the biggest challenge in world rugby for me shows maturity and respect for the All blacks both men only want the best but for whatever reasons sometimes things don't workout i respect both men for not allowing their differences to disrupt the squad moving forward. Onwards.
@rodeo4786 I am onboard with this thinking totally. For the sake of the team. Absolutely. Because no one, other than the two people involved, speculation will continue, thats human nature I guess. What ultimately matter now is, was the sacrifice resulting in better long term performances. Thanks for the comment
Razer is a rookie in test rugby😅 he will be the worst couch ever for new zeeland 😢mark my words
@janhenning4678 I am indeed marking your words and we will revisit this comment in due course.
Beware mr springbok, there are a pack of Lions flanking you in the long grass!
All blacks going through all sorts of problems i guess it's part of life embrace it and it will pass
@phillipmiga3961 indeed. The sun will come up tomorrow (somewhere) thanks for the comment
Boks to win 29 - 15. I think they will hammer the All Blacks at the breakdown. That’s the All Blacks weak point.
@ManMountain1974 I will be watching that area, thanks for the comment
of interest - rugby does not hold the level of interest it once held in NZ . it was almost a week before i even heard that the championship was on and that Argentina beat the all blacks
@msf2126 fascinating comment, would you consider yourself as an ardent rugby fan?
Bad news, but still a great team team to beat
@JohanKlue thanks for the comment. Lets see what happens.
I think it was over the captaincy
Interesting thanks for sharing your view.
Gosh. Really...what im0act will this have on the team? From a Boks supporter. What a shame
We will have to wait and see what impact it has and how the team deals with it. Thanks for the comment
Does this mean that Rassie will have to protect Tony's contract😅👀
Its a good change
Is Jason and Scott a common name in NZ?
I have no idea.
Loyalty in never enuff for some people
Thanks
Old macdonald had a farm eeeyeeeyeoooo out you must go
Someone had to I guess, and it was you.
Please do not go to the US from Cancun! Trump wouldn't like it! Ha! Ha! Ha! All the best to the AB'S! As a Safrican, I hope Am plays and that Kolbe ONLY plays on the wing!
@deanoclothier8426 hola Dean, Trump loves rugby, so no issue there.
Yes Am is a weapon, another one for SA, lets see what happens
The ABs are the only team playing with a flat attack easy pickings for a rush defense by by Leon
Thanks for your comment and for sharing your view
WAAAYY TOO MANY COACHES
Was best game they played last week 2nd pumas test and now they cut old mate Rangi
Once again Too many coaches 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
I think you wanted to say....Too many coaches.....Got it, thanks
Not a big deal overdramatic
@elkiwi69 tell LEON MACDONALD that
You see this sometimes ,BUT YO THIS IS BAD
Hey thanks for the comment. It could also be very, very good.
Scott Robertson
must be backed as head coach
and given full support from assistant coaches ...players and fans
its as simple as that.
.LeonMcdonald
couldnt click with the head coach
and for the good of the team ..
moved on...now lets get over it and
extract some revenge on the springboks
for the world cup loss that was gifted to them by very poor refereeing decisions
Thanks for sharing your views. We will indeed see how it all pans out.
South African here.
It’s bad timing for the AB’s.
Won’t be good for their tour and the Bokke are riding a wave at the moment.
Hola South African. Let's see what happens. Rugby is a funny game. Thanks for your comment
McDonald walking away from AB's job is a sign that Razor is taking control, he is the head coach. You need to look at the history between Razor and McDonald, to understand why I believe that Razor never picked McDonald in the first case. Going forward and selections, will also show what was wrong with the AB's attack. The fix is not going to be overnight, but it is a start, staying with a unit that fails is silly to say the least. ABs are there to win.......first, second and last.......taking part is a B/S option, ask the yappies and Rassie.
@steveosullivan4211 thanks for jumping in with your opinion, good stuff thanks