Sole Survivor: Jason Ryan ready for new chapter with the All Blacks

All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan is in a unique position having survived two head coaching changes.

Hired first in July 2022 under Ian Foster, Ryan helped the All Blacks reach the Rugby World Cup final a year later.

Then he joined his old Crusaders boss Scott Robertson in 2024 along with Scott Hansen, Leon MacDonald, Jason Holland and Tamati Ellison.

Fast forward two years and Ryan is the sole survivor under new All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie, joined by three new assistants Tana Umaga, Neil Barnes, and Mike Blair.

It’s an awkward position for the fiercely loyal Cantabrian, who’s grateful to still be in the All Blacks coaching staff as well as feeling for those who’ve departed.

"It's a privilege to be involved and I'm really looking forward to it," Ryan told The Rock’s Morning Rumble.

"Obviously I want to acknowledge all the coaches I've worked with in the last couple of years. They've been through a bit of a torrid time, especially their families, so it hasn't been easy, but I'm looking forward to moving forward with this crew."

Ryan has a glass-half-full perspective on the recent upheaval of the All Blacks coaching staff though as well as the tumultuous time Foster went through.

"What I've learned in probably 2022 and 2023 is to be successful, at some stage you're going to go through a little bit of pain," Ryan explained. 

"I think every All Blacks team that has been successful and been right at the top, they've been through pain. Captains have been through pain, coaches have been through pain. It's part of the gig."

Ryan recently found a different kind of pain, and a humbling reality check, during a visit to the Taranaki farm of fellow assistant Neil Barnes, who he’ll share the forwards coaching duties with.

"Spent a couple of days on his farm last week. Stayed the night up there, milked a cow. Absolute shambles that was." 

When pressed on the details by The Rock's Morning Rumble, Ryan didn't hold back. 

"Well, I was a shambles. There's a place where you should stand when you're milking a cow and there's a place where you shouldn't, and I stood where you shouldn't and there was shit everywhere. He (Barnes) was in tears."

While Ryan is focused on forming bonds with the new coaching staff, he remains deeply connected to his former colleagues, particularly Scott "Razor" Robertson. 

The friendship between the two, forged through years of Super Rugby success at the Crusaders and their time with the All Blacks, remains strong.

"I've talked to Ray [Scott Robertson] many a time and had a conversation with him a couple of days ago," Ryan shared. 

"You know, he's got a big heart, big Ray, and he'll bounce forward from it. But it has been tough on him and particularly his family and I've got no doubt he'll come forward from this, he's too good a coach not to."

And Ryan’s been too good of a forwards coach for the All Blacks to let go as he prepares for a second tilt at the Rugby World Cup under a third different head coach.