Rassie Erasmus squashes Tony Brown's All Blacks coaching rumours

TB would be great but Joseph is a master of the all of field attack - the thing sorely missing from the ABs. He also has a great understanding of NZ’s rugby DNA - having a wide and diverse coaching experience across all levels of the NZ game - Wellington, Māori All Blacks, Highlanders, ABXV. He also knows adversity, knows what it takes to change and improve and has the sort of resilience Robertson missed badly. So yeah would welcome TB back, but Joseph would do just fine without him.

If we are honest, what Tony Brown has done means a lot for the game of Rugby in South Africa and for the direction of world rugby if you think about it. He showed us that we can play expansive rugby if we choose to. For me as a Bok supporter I always believed we were at our best when we play the offload game like we did in 1998. I’m so happy that Rassie had the guts to go in a new direction. Even if Tony moves back to NZ, he will leave a mark on SA Rugby that will last decades and it’s for the better for everyone

So who could NZR get to do the job who would actually be able to do the job, from those of course who could actually be available, given that Smith, Brown and McMillan have ruled themselves out, and Schmidt will very soon.

Ideally Cotter as head coach. At 63 he's old, but he is fit and seems fresh. He has a much better record than Joseph, is a genuine winner, and has spent much more time coaching in Europe, while Joseph has done none, so will have a much better appreciation of what is required to win at international level against the top teams. At his age he will also be looking to the here and now, not down the road to 2031, which he will be too old for. He gets on with the players, but also takes a no BS approach. Having used them to get rid of Robertson, even Kirk would be apprehensive about the players getting ahead of themselves.

Gatland as primary assistant/mastermind etc. At 62 he again is old, and seems a bit shop worn after he made the foolish decision to return to Wales, but he has a truly colossal level of experience of European rugby, is a genuine winner, and his presence would rattle Rassie. The issue with him is whether he has gas in the tank, and whether, after coaching the 2nd best Lions team to NZ in 2017, he can put up with the incompetent, whiny, bigoted brats in the NZ rugby media. And a few of the players. And whether he can work with/for Cotter. Again, like Cotter, he won't be looking to 2031, and may be willing to have a last chance with the AB's, even if it is not as head coach. Another no BS coach as well.

Jason Ryan. Hopefully he will stay. His selections in the forwards have been genuinely good, his skills are good, he's respected by the players, and he will be willing to stay. After 2027 he might look elsewhere, but that's a down the road problem.

Overall those three would deliver a very confrontational, precisely directed AB's team with very experienced management. Which is apparently exactly what is needed. And thanks to Kirk, this is now an emergency, so the long term is much less important than the short term.

The real issue is the backs coach. There is literally no one in NZ who fits the role, someone with international experience who's up to it. Good luck with that.

Sounds like Rassie wants to sleep better

I thought SA’s dont like NZ’s.

Let the man go home boys 🤣

When South Africa called, Rassie answered.

What Will Tony do, if NZ calls…?

Sellout or True Warror.

What if we just get Rassie to coach both teams.

Tony Brown will not be coming; this option should be ruled out. He is committed to South Africa at least until 2027, so let’s not waste time on an option that isn’t really one. That said, Jamie Joseph remains the clear favorite to take over. He has done a good job with the XV without Tony Brown. He knows how to coach without his former right-hand man. In my opinion, the current coaching staff will not be completely dismantled. Ryan could stay, as could Hansen, who has worked with JJ. However, if Hansen stays, he would have a more minor role, and I see a top-level assistant alongside Joseph—Rennie or Cotter.

I don’t really believe in Joe Schmidt… because he is contractually tied to the ARU until June, and he has said that he truly wants to step back this time to stay closer to his family and his ill son.

Finally, O’Gara is under contract with La Rochelle until June 2027. His move to New Zealand seems unlikely to me.

It will be Joseph with Rennie or Cotter as assistant. That’s my bet.

I’d also put some money on Jamie McKintosh to coach the scrum.

This is delightful! The AB players have spoken, and Kirk danced to their tune. No they have to back it up in the harshest tests possible. Playing the Boks in there backyard. I cannot see this ending well. How many more “Wellington” body shots, can AB rugby take?

NZ and SA fans dropping all the respect they had for one another and fighting over Tony Brown was not on my 2026 radar.

Personally I think he’ll stay to prove a point to NZR

Take it with a grain of salt. No man speaks for another man. Of course Tony Brown isn’t going to say that he’s interested. He has a lot more tact and control over his words than the ex All Blacks coach.

So Tony Brown has just confirmed, in person, on TVNZ news, that he is happy where he is. As in, with the Springboks, until 2027 at least.

So any of the Razor haters out there now feeling the flames? The whole logic of sacking Robertson was that the AB's would end up with better coaching. That hope is crashing, and very quickly. It's looking increasingly likely that the coaching group will be worse.

One good thing that might come out of this is that hopefully it will nuke Josephs bid. Cotter is a radically better coach, as his results at club and international level demonstrate, the one choice that might justify sacking Robertson. I have no confidence in NZR's ability to make the right decision, but who knows, they might accidentally get it right.

Lets just wait and see if Jamie Joseph is named All Blacks coach first.

I hope Ben Smith's working on his Tony’s a traitor for Rassie article on chatgpt.

When Tony makes it official - let’s see how quickly kiwis around here turn on him mercilessly.

Being a coach for the ABs might seem like a privilege and an honor to some - but it’s not the most important thing in the world folks.

Anyone who scapegoated Robertson for the AB's not having a 2012-2016 win rate, for not fixing in two years problems that had been manifest for seven years, now starting to get a little nervous?

First Sir Wayne Smith condemns the process and the decision that led to Robertson being fired, ruling himself out. Now Tony Brown is torpedoed by Rassie. If you don't recognise that Erasmus is effectively in charge of SA rugby at international level, you are completely deluded. No from Rassie means no.

McMillan has also just told them he ain't interested. Schmidt will confirm he will not have any major involvement. At best he will have the distant role Sir Wayne Smith had with Robertson. The candidates are streaming out the door, and it hasn't stopped yet.

Who, other than Jamie Joseph, is going to be part of this Brave New World? More to the point, who, in their right mind, would entrust their careers to an organisation where the players decide who the coaches are?

At what point do those who scapegoated Robertson start to turn on Kirk/NZR/Ardie Savea and the rest of the players who gave them exactly what they wanted? It would be amusing if it wasn't so poisonous for NZ rugby as a whole.

People need to get over Tony Brown. He has a contract. The obsession is ridicules. JJ is currently coaching without Brown. How is he able to cope?

Move on!

Haha that’s the type of coach we thought Razor would be, or is, super not serious.

I’d still call it egg on his face no matter how much of a joke it was meant to be!

That last paragraph has me worried though, has TB not actually signed on till 2031? That was the whole reason I’d predicted he’d have an out clause!

So this means Jamie Joseph isn’t drinking from the poisoned chalice either - “thanks but no thanks”

Wayne Smiths damning verdict on the player revolt has put off their top candidates. It’ll be Warren Gatland and ROG at this stage. My my… this is going from worse to apocalyptic for the NZ..

Rassie is just having fun poking the bear as he does.

Time will tell.