Will he or won't he?
While the eyes of the rugby world are on Johannesburg and All Blacks coach Ian Foster's bid to save his job, his heir apparent was keeping a low profile back home in Christchurch.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson missed out on the national team appointment in 2019, but looms as the logical replacement for Foster, if the latter is unable to quickly turn around his team's fortunes against the world champion Springboks at their Ellis Park fortress.
The All Blacks have lost three consecutive tests for the first time since 1998 and five of their last six, dating back to last year's northern hemisphere tour, with Foster now under pressure to retain his job beyond the current South African tour.
Since taking over the Crusaders reins in 2017, Robertson, 47, has guided the franchise to six Super Rugby crowns and watched assistant coach Jason Ryan - part of his proposed All Blacks coaching set-up - already added to the national team staff to address perceived flaws in the forward pack.
But all that seemed thousands of kilometres away, as the man known as 'Razor' cheered on son Macklan playing at first-five for St Andrew's College First XV in a 38-36 loss to crosstown rivals Shirley Boys' High School.
Was this simply the calm before the storm expected to strike NZ rugby over the next 24 hours? Time will tell.
