New Zealand Rugby head of high performance Mike Anthony to lead crucial All Blacks review
Sunday, 23 November 2025
All Blacks’ grand slam tour review will start after Wales test.
Findings will be presented to NZ Rugby board in February.
Coaches Robertson, Hansen and Ryan are contracted through to 2027.
New Zealand Rugby head of high performance Mike Anthony will conduct the important review into the All Blacks’ end-of-year campaign and the findings will inform whether changes are required, the Sunday Star-Times understands.
As normal, reviews were conducted after the July tests and Rugby Championship - and the 33-19 loss to England last weekend will require that pointed questions are asked about the All Blacks’ performances.
Coaches, players and management will all take part in the review and there will be a deep dive into the recommendations involving the New Zealand Rugby chief executive, NZ Rugby general manager, professional rugby and performance, Chris Lendrum and the All Blacks coaches and management before it is presented to the NZ Rugby board in February.
In the event that NZ Rugby won’t yet have its new chief executive in the hot seat by that date, interim chief executive Steve Lancaster will fulfil that role.
The All Blacks will take part in an early-season camp in January, when feedback will be gathered.
The Star-Times understands that the starting point of the review won’t be that predetermined change is needed and to outline what that should be, but rather to take a hard look at the whole program to identify areas for improvement, with any potential changes following from that.
For example, last year’s review identified that additional expertise was needed around the lineout and restarts, leading to the recruitment of Bryn Evans from the Hurricanes.
The timing of the review presentation doesn’t preclude the All Blacks pursuing another coach prior to February, if it is obvious internally that another coach is needed.
Head coach Scott Robertson and assistants Scott Hansen and Jason Ryan are all contracted through to the 2027 Rugby World Cup, the Star-Times understands.
Jason Holland’s contract runs out at the end of the year and he has already decided to move on, while Tamaiti Ellison’s contract is also up for renewal.
Despite public clamouring for change, it would be extraordinary if NZ Rugby sacked Robertson, Hansen and Ryan halfway through their four-year contracts.
Those implication of contract lengths is that the coaches were ultimately hired with one goal in mind- winning the Rugby World Cup in 2027 - and the All Blacks coaches will presumably argue that there is enough time between now and then to address the All Blacks’ obvious issues.
The most glaring of those is New Zealand rugby’s collective frailty under the high ball, and Star-Times understands there wasn’t a specific directive from the All Blacks to the Super Rugby clubs this year to upskill players of interest in that area.
That’s just one example of system-wide improvements that could be made, but last weekend’s conquerors England could also provide a bit of a roadmap in terms of coaching additions.
After a number of narrow losses last year and only incremental improvements to their attack during the Six Nations, England seconded well-regarded Bath attack coach Lee Blackett for their tour of Argentina in July - which they won 2-0.
Blackett’s impact was such that England added him to their coaching team on a full-time basis and Blackett’s celebrations during the All Blacks test suggested that he was the architect of the set-piece move that led to England’s third try.
The exits of Holland and Leon MacDonald, both members of Robertson’s initial five-strong coaching team, would appear to open the door for an extra coach to be added.
While the All Blacks review lies head, the Star-Times understands that another important part of the overall rugby puzzle has been put in place.
Agreement has been found on the vexed issue of provincial union funding, with the provincial unions set to receive a fixed amount of $39 million a year - although that figure could be reduced if provincial union player payments are moved into a centralised system.
Agreeing a new collective employment agreement with the NZRPA is proving trickier, however, and that has still not been concluded.