WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Crusaders coach Scott Robertson has been touted as a future All Blacks coach but the break-dancing avid surfer is happy to bide his time with the eight-times Super Rugby champions.
Robertson, who leads his side into their second successive Super Rugby final against the Lions on Saturday, is contracted until the end of the 2019. Current All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is expected to step down after next year's Rugby World Cup and some pundits in the rugby-mad country have suggested New Zealand Rugby should look at the former international loose forward as his replacement.
The 43-year-old, however, said on Friday that he was keen on staying with the Crusaders when his contract comes up for renewal. "I've always wanted to stay here," Robertson told the New Zealand Herald on Friday. "I love it. There will be a review after the season is finished... and talks will start next year about hopefully how long they would like me for."
Robertson, who has lost just three games in his two-year tenure with the Crusaders, said he was in no hurry to coach the All Blacks. "It's like anything in life. Opportunities come up and if the timing is right you look at them," he said. "One thing I've learned is you have to be patient. Time is something that benefits you as a coach. I'm definitely not in a rush. The more patient I've been probably the more settled it's been for me."
Meanwhile, Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson has signed a new one-year deal to extend his stay at the Sydney-based Super Rugby side at least until the end of 2019. After missing out on the playoffs in the first two years under the New Zealander and finishing a miserable 16th in 2017, the Waratahs were knocked out in the semi-finals of this year's competition by the Lions last weekend.
"I am really proud of how this team has developed and improved over the past 12 months to make the final four," Gibson said in a press release. "While our goal was to bring the Super Rugby trophy home, we can hold our heads high and reflect on a season in which we made massive inroads both on and off the field. The job is not done yet but we are excited about what’s to come."
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika led the Waratahs to their first Super Rugby title in 2014 and to the semi-finals the following year before handing over to Gibson. The former All Blacks centre still has plenty of work to do to get the Sydney rugby public fully behind an inconsistent team which, despite being laden with Wallabies, mixed brief periods of brilliance with some poor performances this season. He has recruited Chris Whitaker to his coaching team for next year, the former Australia scrumhalf leaving French club Montauban to return to Sydney.