Razor’s All Blacks lacked sharp edge but sacking Robertson does not guarantee revival | Robert Kitson
As a keen surfer Scott Robertson is well aware how abruptly situations can change.One minute you are riding the perfect wave, the next you’re being dumped from a great height and having your world tipped upside down.Which is essentially how “Razor” will now be feeling after being ousted as All Blacks head coach barely two years into his tenure.On the surface he was everything New Zealand rugby could have wished for.The serial domestic winner who had guided the Crusaders to seven successive Super Rugby titles, the empathetic everyman with the break-dancing skills to match.
If anyone could connect with younger generations and encourage everyone to fall in love with the ABs again, surely he was da man?Instead he has been swallowed up and spat out after only 27 Tests.An internal review into the All Blacks’ problematic year uncorked a torrent of salty feedback that proved impossible to ignore.New Zealand Rugby’s chair, David Kirk, sought to dampen reports that the All Blacks’ best player, Ardie Savea, had threatened to jump ship if Robertson remained but the swiftness of the union’s response, despite currently having no permanent chief executive in place, suggested player unrest was indeed a factor.It invites several questions, none of them comfortable.As Manchester United can testify, sacking the top man does not guarantee instant smooth sailing.
Robertson’s record was not disastrous – he oversaw 20 victories, a 74% ratio that was statistically an improvement on his predecessor Ian Foster’s 69.6% winning return – but, as anyone who watched the All Blacks face England in November can attest, there was clearly something not quite right.As much as England’s 33-19 win was a striking result, New Zealand were transparently not their usual forbidding selves.Whatever Razor was muttering into the ears of his backs, in particular, was definitely not working; when an All Black backline looks so visibly short of cohesion and rhythm there is trouble at mill.Add to that the humbling 43-10 defeat at home by a rampant South Africa, the heaviest in the All Blacks’ 120-year history, plus a first-ever loss in Argentina and the review was never likely to be cosy.
“I think trajectory is a good word to apply, we just weren’t seeing the trajectory,” said Kirk.“We were falling a bit short of the excellence that we’re looking for, it never really got addressed over the year.”The former World Cup-winning captain also acknowledged the All Blacks “are not on track the way they need to be on track” for the 2027 tournament, which is as close as a senior New Zealand rugby official will ever come to admitting the wheels of the national team have fallen off.It is one thing to lose a Test match or two, quite another when the All Blacks’ once globally famous “culture” is perceived as not fit for purpose.Particularly when Razor was supposedly the feelgood antidote to the more buttoned up regime of Foster whose side, remember, lost the 2023 World Cup final by only a point.
“My job is to connect them and make them believe,” Robertson told some of us in a small room in Dunedin in the summer of 2024.“What does it look like? How does it feel? How are people going to own it?”So much for such worthy intentions.If ever there was a stark illustration that coaching domestically and at Test level require a different skillset, Razor’s short-lived tenure in charge of the All Blacks is probably it.There is still time – of course there is – to resurrect the drooping silver fern.Jamie Joseph, the early favourite for the job, and Dave Rennie have significant experience of the international game, while the rugby IQ potentially at NZR’s disposal remains extensive.
Joe Schmidt, Vern Cotter, Chris Boyd, Warren Gatland, Wayne Smith, Pat Lam – there are plenty of seasoned coaches out there who know exactly how to reassemble an underperforming rugby team and make it tick.Even the Boks have a Kiwi guru – Joseph’s old colleague Tony Brown – now shaping their attacking strategy.The right mix is crucial.The game is changing rapidly; what worked last week can be instantly picked apart by every analyst in the world.What was once New Zealand’s secret weapon – the aura that made opponents nervous about facing them even before they took the field – has also faded.
Rebuilding any international team is hard, let alone an All Black squad in which key men such as Beauden and Scott Barrett, Codie Taylor and Savea are all aged between 32 and 34.On the flip side, for all their huffing and puffing, New Zealand are still ranked second in the world, ahead of England and Ireland.It is way too early, accordingly, to write them off as 2027 World Cup contenders in Australia.As South Africa have proved in the past, a mid-cycle jolt can sometimes concentrate minds and prove highly beneficial.Maybe someone such as Joseph – the former All Black flanker who coached Japan and is now back with the Highlanders – will rediscover the “edge” that, ironically, Razor could not supply.
What does seem certain is that the latter will attract interest from club suitors, including one or two in the UK,Harlequins, among others, are in the market for a heavy hitter capable of providing fresh impetus,Notwithstanding the lack of surfing on the Thames, you suspect Robertson would need little persuading to hop on the first available flight north,
ADHD care needs better regulation and fewer pills | Letters
As a UK-trained consultant psychiatrist, fully indemnified, appraised and regulated by the General Medical Council, with specialist expertise in adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment, I read your article on rising ADHD care costs with concern and frustration (NHS ADHD spending over budget by £164m as unregulated clinics boom, 12 January).For the past eight months I have been navigating the opaque Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration process to provide high-quality, fully regulated ADHD assessments in an independent setting, alongside two similarly qualified colleagues. Until this process is complete, I am legally prohibited from seeing patients.It is therefore deeply troubling to learn from your article that multiple companies have been awarded NHS ADHD contracts despite not having CQC registration. In addition, some health professions fall outside the CQC remit and thus can set up a practice “diagnosing and treating” ADHD tomorrow – for example, a psychologist working with a prescribing pharmacist
Religious tradition, child safety and the law on circumcision | Letters
I would welcome criminalising circumcision if it was performed by an unqualified person – just as would be the case if someone unqualified conducted any other surgical operation (Circumcision classed as possible child abuse in draft CPS document, 10 January). But leaping from that to banning the practice altogether is not justified.Given that it is a longstanding and important tradition among Jews, Muslims and various other cultures, the best way forward is to only permit circumcision if it is practised by someone specifically qualified for it and who belongs to a nationally accredited scheme. This would involve compulsory training, monitoring all cases and producing annual reports.Such a step is vital if we value both the safety of children and the integrity of faith backgrounds, and should be implemented as soon as possible
Woman pulled out of UK ultramarathon after death threats over Afghanistan fundraising
A woman was pulled out of Britain’s most gruelling ultramarathon after receiving death threats over her fundraising for Afghan women and girls.Sarah Porter was nearly a third of the way through the 108-mile Montane Winter Spine Challenger South endurance race when organisers made the “difficult decision” to withdraw her due to threats to her life in relation to the foundation she runs helping women and girls in war zones.Speaking to the Guardian, Porter said she was disappointed. “My immediate feeling was just one of shame really.”“I was very emotional,” she said, “just born from the perspective that I really felt like I’d let down the girls that I was running for and I’d really kind of got this narrative in my head and psyched myself up that what I was doing was just so insignificant in comparison to what they’re enduring
Circumcision kits found on sale on Amazon UK as concerns grow over harm to baby boys
Circumcision kits have been found on sale on Amazon UK, highlighting lax regulation as concerns grow about deaths and serious harm to baby boys.In December, a UK coroner issued warnings about insufficient circumcision regulation after the death in 2023 of a six-month-old boy, Mohamed Abdisamad, from a streptococcus infection.In a prevention of future deaths report, Dr Anton van Dellen, assistant coroner for west London, highlighted how “any individual may conduct a non-therapeutic male circumcision (NTMC) without any prior training”, with “no requirement for any infection control measures [and] no requirements for any aftercare”, adding that “action should be taken to prevent future deaths”.The Department of Health and Social Care has until the end of February to respond.The Guardian found “Plastibell” kits, in various sizes, on sale for £200 on Amazon in January
One in four UK teenagers in care have attempted to end their lives, study says
One in four teenagers in care have attempted to end their own life, and are four times more likely to do so than their peers with no care experience, according to a landmark study.The research analysed data from the millennium cohort study, which follows the lives of 19,000 people born in the UK between 2000 and 2002, and considered how out of home care, including foster, residential and kinship care, affected the social and mental health outcomes of the participants.More than one in four (26%) 17-year-olds who have lived in foster or residential care have attempted to end their own lives, the analysis found, compared with only one in 14 (7%) of teenagers with no experience of being in care.Although previous research has found that about 7% of UK children have attempted suicide by the age of 17, this study, conducted by academics from the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, is the first to calculate the elevated suicide risk teenagers with care experience have.Lisa Harker, the director of the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, said the fact that one in four care-experienced children had attempted suicide was a “national emergency”
Five minutes more exercise and 30 minutes less sitting could help millions live longer
Just five extra minutes of exercise and half an hour less sitting time each day could help millions of people live longer, according to research highlighting the potentially huge population benefits of making even tiny lifestyle changes.Until now, evidence about reducing the number of premature deaths assumed that everyone must meet specific targets, overlooking the positives of even minor increases in physical activity.Moderate-intensity physical activity such as brisk walking for an extra five minutes a day was associated with an estimated 10% reduction in deaths, the study of 135,000 people from the UK, US, Norway and Sweden found.Researchers led by the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences also found reducing sedentary time by 30 minutes a day was associated with an estimated 7% reduction in all deaths.The greatest benefit was seen if the least active 20% of the population increased their activity by five minutes each day
South East Water boss lasting weeks in post would be a surprise | Nils Pratley
UK economy beats forecasts with 0.3% growth in November; Ofwat investigating South East Water over outages – as it happened
Elon Musk’s xAI datacenter generating extra electricity illegally, regulator rules
Mother of one of Elon Musk’s sons sues over Grok-generated explicit images
Max Verstappen excited about new F1 season as Red Bull unveil their 2026 car
John Higgins rides wild fluke to win final three frames and reach Masters semi