Steve Lancaster: 'We don't see this as a one in one out situation'

New Zealand Rugby CEO Steve Lancaster has shut down any suggestion that Tony Brown’s appointment as an All Blacks assistant coach in 2028 will impact the current coaching group.

Brown’s move from the Springboks to the All Blacks in 2028 was announced on Monday, highlighting an interesting discussion about how Brown is the only contracted coach following the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Dave Rennie, Mike Blair, Neil Barnes, Tana Umaga, and Jason Ryan are on 18-month deals ahead of the Rugby World Cup next year, meaning Brown is already locked in for 2028 under an unknown coaching group.

“I’ll put it really simply for you. Right, we’ve got a world-class coach, an acknowledged world-class coach who’s highly sought after in Tony Brown. We have opportunity to secure them, we’ve taken that opportunity and it’s that simple,” Lancaster told Josh Kronfeld on Sky Sport.

“It’s about having the best coaches in New Zealand, coaching New Zealand teams, we’ve taken that opportunity to secure Tony. It doesn’t have any bearing on Dave or his group, to the extent that Dave’s been fully engaged in the process, fully supportive of securing Tony.

“And let’s hope Dave is still the head coach beyond 2027, he sees a place for Tony in his group, but as I said earlier, that’s not one in one out right, that’s an addition to the mix, and it’s a pretty positive addition.”

Lancaster explains that this move isn’t about shoehorning a group of assistants before they have even started, and that Brown’s appointment is purely about the future of the All Blacks.

“That’s our hope [assistants staying on past 2027], actually. So, this isn’t about one in, one out by any measure. We see Tony adding value to whichever group he comes into, and if that was the existing group, then there’d be a place for him as well.

“That would be up to Rennie to determine, but look, this is a decision and an announcement for 2028 and beyond. So we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

When asked whether this suggests the assistant coaching role was more important to lock down than the head coach, Lancaster said it’s more about getting the right people in the right place.

“It’s about the mix, it’s having the right people in the mix, it’s that old analogy about getting the right people on the bus, and then making sure they’re in the right seats.

“What we’ve done is get the right person on the bus, and we’ll work out what seat he sits in later.”