The news this week that Springbok attack coach Tony Brown has signed on to join the All Blacks’ coaching team following the conclusion of next year’s World Cup in Australia has the entire rugby world talking.
It’s a quite remarkable situation all things considered, with many of the game’s biggest pundits weighting in with opinions.
The 51-year-old former Hollywoodbets Sharks flyhalf who, alongside Jacques Nienaber, is inarguably the best assistant coach working today, has insisted that he is committed to the Boks’ cause over the next two seasons in a statement released by SA Rugby on Monday.
‘My contract with New Zealand Rugby only begins in 2028, so there is still a long road ahead before that comes into play,’ said Brown. ‘Right now, I am fully committed to the Springboks. What we are building and trying to achieve as a team over the next two years is my only focus.’
The timing of the announcement has struck many as strange though, especially with Dave Rennie’s recent appointment as New Zealand’s new Big Boss.
‘I find it unusual because we don’t know who he will be assisting as assistant coach,’ noted legendary Kiwi YouTuber Two Cents Rugby. ‘Generally speaking, you appoint your head coach, and your head coach will give a list of names of who they’d like to bring along on their coaching ticket.
‘It’s unusual to have the assistant ready and waiting.’
What the announcement does emphasize though is just how high Brown’s global standing is.
‘Every coach has wanted Brownie to work with them,’ said former AB winger Jeff Wilson on The Breakdown show. ‘Like everyone approached Tony. It’s unusual [the hiring process], but I think Dave Rennie, who has been part of the process, understands why New Zealand Rugby have done this.
‘I don’t disagree with it in any way, shape, or form. Dave Rennie is focused on the next 18-months and his coaching team and all of this group. There’ll be a new conversation after the Rugby World Cup about who’s going to be the All Black coach going forward.
‘That could be based on results. It could be based on the trajectory of where the team is heading, but now they’ve got a piece of that puzzle that they know could just add to what they already have.’
But if the All Blacks go on to win the next World Cup, why would they want to mess with a winning formula?
Speaking on the same show, 2011-RWC-winning flyhalf Stephen Donald shared a more nuanced view in relation to the soon-to-arrive Rennie and his new coaching group.
‘For me, it’s just fascinating that you can’t trust three people, because essentially I don’t know if I agree with the fact that they just announced it before this new crew comes in.
‘Like 100% I agree with the appointment, it’s absolutely brilliant. Let’s lock him in. But I just don’t know how you couldn’t have said right, you three people in New Zealand know, and we will just announce it after that.’
Elsewhere, some sharp Bok supporters questioned the impact it would have on their side following the next RWC, with the fear being that Brown will leak critical intel from within Rassie Erasmus’ setup.
Speaking on the Rivals podcast though, Victor Matfield was quick to shut down that train of thought with a healthy dose of realism.
‘I think everyone knows what the DNA of the Springboks is. We want to dominate set-piece, dominate territory, and the kicking game and aerial battle are hugely important to us. Then we’ve got X-factor players who can hurt you from anywhere.
‘I think most teams know exactly what we do and how we do it.’
For anyone wondering just what makes Brown so special and highly sought-after, Robbie Owen, aka Squidge Rugby, on Tuesday broke it down as only he can.
‘This is a huge appointment. This is perhaps the biggest appointment of an assistant coach we’ve ever seen,’ said the YouTuber.
‘It was really interesting listening to Steve Lancaster of the NZRU, talking about this appointment and saying one of the things he really looks to is the way in which Tony Brown is so good at just freeing players up to just play as themselves.
‘He creates structures that allows players to express themselves and to essentially feel like they have the right to improvise on the field. It allows you to play unstructured rugby, because his structures are so smart and so well put together. It’s not that he’s just randomly chucking it about.
‘There’ve been some coaches over the years who have been caught up in that idea of, they want a structure they can break. Tony Brown’s system is so set that it gives you infinite options and allows you to do whatever you like within that.
‘It’s like giving you Lego, building whatever you like out of Lego, rather than going, take every resource you’ve got in the world, build whatever you like with it. You are more likely to build something creative with Lego.’
For an All Blacks outfit struggling to get the most out of their plethora of world class talent, that must sure sound like a tasty proposition.
Meanwhile, the Boks, in the more immediate future, will be banking on Brown lifting them to an unprecedented threepeat.
