He has the morning all planned out.
Scott Robertson will park up at his favourite Dunedin cafe at the Esplanade, order a couple of poached eggs and a coffee, look longingly out at the St Clair breakers — no time for the keen surfer to get in the water tomorrow — and try to clear his mind as much as possible under the circumstances.
How the evening will unfold is a little less uncertain.
The man known by all and sundry as "Razor" will officially become an All Blacks coach when either one of his own men or an English invader kicks off under the Forsyth Barr Stadium roof.
And he can’t wait.
"There will be some natural nervousness. That’s human nature, isn’t it?" Robertson said.
"That comes when you prepare for any big event or something new.
"But my nature is that I want to enjoy it, too. I want to prepare well and enjoy what the All Black jersey brings. It’s just like the players wanting to perform. That is the same for myself personally and the whole management and coaching group.
"You expect a lot of yourself. And there is expectation on you.
"I’ve been coaching long enough to know you need to trust yourself, and enjoy it, and your body will naturally get you ready.
"Yeah. I love it."
Robertson’s era of success at the Crusaders seems unlikely to be repeated.
He oversaw 99 wins from 118 games and seven championships, and while other factors clearly needed considering, the impact of his departure was felt when the former powerhouses slumped to ninth in Super Rugby.
His elevation to the most important job in New Zealand sport was perhaps not handled the best — many feeling the process had been unfair on incumbent All Blacks coach Ian Foster, despite some mediocre results — but was plainly on merit.
Now the fun begins. And, inevitably, the question over whether success, even extraordinary amounts of it, at a domestic level can immediately translate to the test arena.
There is a nice link to the Robertson era starting with a test against England in Dunedin.
"Ted messaged me and mentioned that. I really appreciated that from him. It was a nice touch.
"I’ve always got on with Ted and respected the way he coached, and his philosophies on the game.
"He went through some tough times but was resilient and was always himself, which I fully respect."
Often, an All Blacks season begins with a relatively favourable clash against a second-tier nation.
No such gift for Robertson, who must whip together a team on a fairly tight schedule to face a major nation that appears buoyant after a recent upswing in form and with real direction under coach Steve Borthwick.
"They’ve got a brilliant group of players with a new crop coming through, and they’ve got a quality coaching group.
"Steve’s done a good job with them. They know who they are, their DNA.
"They put you under pressure. It used to be from their kicking game, but now they hold on to the ball a little bit, and they’ve got a lot of threats."
Tauranga-born Robertson, who turns 50 on August 21, enjoyed the process of selecting his first squad with the coaching team.
Every man and his dog had an opinion — he welcomed that, but he was also pleased to get the players together and begin the process of developing a rather new-look All Blacks team.
You could only do so much planning, he pointed out. Coaches were paid to think on their feet and get their hands dirty on the field and put the pieces together to deliver success.
One of those pieces, and a rather large one, is prop Ethan de Groot, and Robertson is already a big fan of the sole Highlander in the squad.
"He’s a good professional. Smart. Loves his scrum.
"I’ve been really impressed as I’ve got to know Ethan and learn how passionate he is about his craft. He can step right up."
There will be some wistful looks in the eyes of Highlanders fans when they see someone who is not Aaron Smith wearing the No9 black jersey tomorrow.
Smith is in Japan, having ended his remarkable test career with 125 caps, leaving TJ Perenara, Finlay Christie and newcomer Cortez Ratima to battle it out in his absence.
"You don’t really replace someone like Aaron, do you?" Robertson said.
"You can’t just replace his energy and his experience and his incredible skillset.
"He will be missed. But I think he’s left the jersey in a good place.
"We’ve got some great young halfbacks coming through. And we have TJ with all his experience and leadership.
"That’s what the black jersey does — it inspires people to work hard and play great rugby."
While the South is represented poorly on the playing roster, there are a couple of familiar faces on Robertson’s staff.
Long-serving Highlanders and Otago manager Paul "Moose" McLaughlan now holds that role with the All Blacks, while SportsMed Otago co-founder Karl McDonald is the new physio, and Robertson is delighted with both of them.
"He’s just elite, Macca. He is so highly regarded around the world as a hands-on physio, and he’s brought a great energy to the group.
"Paul is just meticulous, mate. The antlers are always up, old Moose. He’s a great planner, loves detail, really experienced.
"We worked together with New Zealand under-20s and he complements me well."
In an ideal world, Robertson might be making his All Blacks coaching debut at a fancy new stadium in the city, Christchurch, that has long been his home.
Forsyth Barr Stadium was not a bad substitute, he said.
And while he is forever linked to the Crusaders, a four-letter word south of the Waitaki, he has fond memories of both surfing St Clair and playing two of his 23 tests, against Scotland in 2000 and Ireland in 2002, at Carisbrook.
"It’s a passionate place and I love the true rugby community down there."
Scott Robertson — the facts
Age: 49.
School: Mount Maunganui College.
Family: Wife Jane, three children.
Playing career Position: Loose forward.
All Blacks: 23 tests, 1998-2002.
Crusaders: 86 games, 1996-2003, Super Rugby player of the year 2000.
Canterbury: 69 games, 1996-2003.
Also: Bay of Plenty, Perpignan, Ricoh Black Rams.
Coaching career
All Blacks: Appointed March 2023, first game tonight.
Crusaders: Head coach 2017-23, won seven consecutive titles.
Canterbury: Assistant 2008-12, head coach 2013-16, NPC champions 2013, 2015 and 2016.
New Zealand Under-20: Head coach 2014-15, won world under-20 title in 2015.
Also: Sumner club, Brazil, Barbarians.
