DSPN - Devlin Sports Podcast Network

What actually happens when a top coaching job starts to unravel? And how much warning do you really get?

Martin Devlin sits down with former Wales and Fiji coach Wayne Pivac for a wide-ranging and brutally honest conversation about elite rugby, leadership, and what life looks like after the biggest job of your career ends.

Wayne reflects on his journey through international coaching, the realities of national team pressure, losing the dressing room, and why consistency is the hardest thing to achieve in test rugby. The chat also dives into the All Blacks, the gap to South Africa, player power, overseas eligibility, and what a new coach actually needs to fix when they walk through the door.
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Five days on from Scott Robertson’s removal, and the questions are only getting louder.

On this episode of DSPN, we get stuck into what’s actually happened behind closed doors at the All Blacks, why the silence from Razor doesn’t sit right, and why fans deserve more than a PR statement. This isn’t about witch hunts or pitchforks. It’s about accountability, transparency, and respect for the jersey.

We dive into a massive mailbag, tackling everything from player unrest and leadership failures, to culture, performance, captaincy, and what success even looks like from here. Was this a rugby decision or a player-driven one? Was the experiment rushed? And what does the next coach walk into?

It’s honest, uncomfortable at times, and exactly the conversation a lot of supporters have been waiting for.
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The All Blacks coaching bombshell is still reverberating, and we’re not done talking about it. With Scott Robertson out mid-cycle, questions around timing, process, player feedback and leadership are everywhere.

Tony Johnson joins us to unpack what really drove the decision, why New Zealand Rugby felt they had no choice but to act now, and how much weight was given to performance versus trajectory. We dig into the player power debate, the role of feedback from senior players, and whether that narrative does justice to the review process.

There’s also a hard look at what comes next. Potential coaching combinations, the importance of international experience, what this means for the current playing group and whether the All Blacks have enough time to reset before a brutally demanding year.

We close with a heartfelt tribute to former All Black Grant Batty, who passed away on Saturday, reflecting on his impact, personality and legacy.
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We didn’t expect to be talking about this in January, but here we are. Scott Robertson is out as All Blacks coach, and the shockwaves are still rippling through world rugby.

On this episode of DSPN, Marty goes global, checking in with South Africa, the UK, and Australia to unpack how this decision landed and what it means next. From Brenden Nel’s surprise in Pretoria, to Chris Jones’ blunt assessment from the Northern Hemisphere, and Christy Doran’s warning signs from across the ditch, the reaction is unanimous. This is seismic.

We dig into player power, whether New Zealand Rugby blinked too early, and the big question everyone’s asking. Is this actually a change for the better? With Jamie Joseph, Tony Brown, and other names circling, the pressure is already on whoever steps in next, with a South African tour and a World Cup cycle ticking away.
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This is one of the biggest days in New Zealand rugby history. Scott Robertson is no longer the All Blacks head coach, and for the first time ever, NZ Rugby has made the call to remove a coach mid-cycle.

We go live as the news breaks, unpacking the statements from David Kirk and Scott Robertson, the review process, and why this decision was made now. There’s empathy first, because Razor is a good man who’s just lost his dream job in the harshest way possible. But there’s also honesty about performance, player power, and why this situation became untenable.

Martin Devlin, producer Lachlan Waugh, and broadcaster Mark Watson dig into what went wrong, what it says about NZ Rugby’s new leadership, and where the All Blacks go next. From Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown to Wayne Smith, Joe Schmidt, and beyond, this is the full, unfiltered DSPN reaction to a seismic moment in the game.
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