What Tony Johnson is hearing about the vacant All Blacks assistant role

The All Blacks are now without two of their assistants from Scott Robertson’s initial coaching staff that was appointed two years ago, with both Leon MacDonald and Jason Holland leaving their roles from inside the camp.

Both are attack coaches, with the most recent departure, Holland, being the team’s strike coach, helping develop ideas and strategies around set plays for this All Blacks team.

Former Crusaders assistant Tamati Ellison was elevated from his skills coach role to help with the team’s defence, while Hansen was helping with the All Blacks attack.

Now, with the end-of-year review by New Zealand Rugby’s High Performance Manager Mike Anthony underway, it is still unknown whether there will be a coach elevated from within, or a specialist attack coach added.

Experienced commentator Tony Johnson, who commentated three of the four end-of-year Northern Tour games for the All Blacks, explains on Sport Nation Mornings with Ian Smith that he has heard something about what the All Blacks might do with their vacant attacking coach role.

“Well, what I’ve seen and heard is that they want someone to come in with a specialist brief of dealing with how they cope with the high ball. Does that mean that whoever or whatever Jason Holland was doing, and I understand that that was, I wouldn’t say, marginalised, but it was quite a narrow focus that he ended up with, and this is where the whole structure that was set up initially.

“Remember, it was Scott Robertson, overall charge, and then he had five coaches spread out over five different roles, and of course, that changed very dramatically and pretty obviously that Leon McDonald came to the realisation that what he thought he was going to be doing and what he was actually doing weren’t the same thing, so he went.

“I don’t know what the situation is with Jason Holland. I don’t think you step out of a job like that if you’ve been having a really great time and you’re doing everything that you thought you were going to be doing, I would have thought or maybe just felt it wasn’t the right fit. I don’t know.”

The 66-year-old broadcaster is unsure whether the team needs someone to be full time coach for the high-ball, because he feels like it may be more important to have someone to develop the All Blacks attack.

“I really don’t know, but to me that area, yes, they sure enough, they need someone, and they’re dealing with the high ball. But does that have to be a full time coach? Is there not someone who can they can bring in to help develop that skills? I think developing the team’s attack is what they need, probably more than anything else.

“Because you can see all this tremendous potential there, but whether that comes from outside, because there are limited options available, Tony Brown, the guy we all love to see there, he’s been tied up for the foreseeable future, and probably beyond the way things are going.

“So does that person exist who can come in and make a difference? Because a lot of very good New Zealand coaches are very well set up overseas in full time jobs. As I say, it sounds to me like they are pitching for someone to come in and help them with that area that’s been such an Achilles heel, how to deal with the high ball, particularly in the face of this new law, which means that all of the advantage really is with the team kicking the ball if they can get it in the right place.”