Pop quiz. Who was South Africa’s last scrum-half before the ‘Rassie Revolution’ in South Africa took root? If you answered ‘Ross Cronje’, award yourself a gold star. By 2018 Cronje had disappeared back into the rugby bush to be replaced by Faf de Klerk for the England tour in July. The blond firecracker was pivotal to South Africa’s World Cup victory one year later, but at the time he was plying his trade with the Sale Sharks in England’s Premiership and it was a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’.
No major rugby nation has undergone more positive changes than South Africa since Erasmus took the national game by the scruff, and the first part of his plan was to open the door for the selection of South African players of national interest playing overseas.
Wind the clock on to 2021, and the Springboks took another huge stride forward with the strategic decision to withdraw all four major professional franchises from Super Rugby and realign them with northern hemisphere competitions, which represented around two thirds of rugby’s global commercial value at the time. There were R90m [£4m] in travel savings right off the bat, a happy congruence of kick-off times and the long-term potential for South Africa to join the Six Nations.
By 2025 Erasmus had grown a fully cosmopolitan coaching group around him, which included two Irishmen [Felix Jones and Jerry Flannery] a couple of Welshmen [2019 head of athletic performance Aled Walters and more recently, ex-Saracens strength & conditioning coach Andy Edwards] and a Kiwi attack coach in Tony Brown.
While South Africa has thrown open its doors and issued an unprecedented welcome to the world outside the country, Australia and New Zealand have remained largely self-contained, and stayed within their traditional boundaries. Crisis might be too strong a word for it, but there is a problem with the acceptance and integration of overseas rugby IP into the Australasian game.
It is obvious to high-profile coaches from both nations watching their homeland from a new orbit. When current Bristol head coach, and ex-Auckland and Samoa number eight forward Pat Lam took a long retrospective at his old country on Martin Devlin’s DSPN podcast recently, he was looking back with a great deal of common sense, and just a smidgeon of incredulity and anger.
The Bears supremo began by taking a swipe at New Zealand’s policy of asking every head coaching candidate to nominate their coaching teams at the interview stage.
“I was part of it in 2007 when Robbie Deans rang me out of the blue and asked me if I could go be his assistant coach for the All Blacks. Wow. He needed to put his name into the hat.
“Now, I’ve never coached with Robbie Deans. I mean, it’s crazy. He’s going for the All Blacks job, and he’s asking me. But the reason he was doing it was that New Zealand Rugby wants to know what your coaching team will be before they pick it.
“And when Jamie [Joseph] and Razor went for it [in the 2023 World Cup year], they decided Razor is the best coach, but they still made them do the same thing.”
The upshot of an ‘archaic’ process was that Brown went with JJ and was therefore excluded from Razor’s coaching panel. Now he works with Rassie and the Springboks.
“The best attacking coach is Tony Brown, 100 per cent,” Lam continued. “I couldn’t believe it. And naturally, Tony went with Jamie, but Tony’s also good mates with Razor. The New Zealand Rugby Union, what they should have done is choose who they believe is going to be the best to lead – Razor.
“Okay, off the back of it, who do you think is the best defence coach? Well, let’s interview and find out. Who’s the best attack coach, from not just everyone in New Zealand, but everyone around the world?
“In the end, Rassie saw it. Bang! Let’s get Tony Brown, put a four-year deal in front of him. And New Zealand Rugby didn’t talk to Tony Brown.
“That’s the worst thing that [could have] happened for New Zealand, [and] the best thing for South Africa. I know a lot of the South African boys, and they’re impressive men, all they needed was to play a bit more expansive rugby.
“I said if the South Africans ever get upskilled to play a game outside the big bosh, which they’re good at, watch out. And Tony Brown, the Kiwi, All Black, has gone in there, and he’s doing a brilliant job for them. You can just see it, you’re watching them: ‘That’s Tony Brown’. And you know what he’s teaching them.”
With the latest extension of Brown’s deal with South Africa until 2031, the Otago man’s IP will be firmly out of bounds to New Zealand for another six years at least. Lam’s conclusion about the state of New Zealand rugby?
“They missed out because of their behaviour. They still believe they are the best in the world, rather than making any changes to some of their behaviours.”
The proof is in the pudding. If they cannot get Brown, will New Zealand rugby scour the globe for the best man to inform and run their attacking shapes, and in particular will they consider a Ronan O’Gara for the job? The Munsterman worked with Robertson at the Crusaders for two seasons in 2018 and 2019, and the relationship was mutually beneficial and exponential in its impacts.
Robertson taught O’Gara the value of positivity and the maintenance of connections within a ‘beehive’ environment.
“I think my mindset was turned inside-out going to the Crusaders, just the way they think about things and how real positivity and real buy-in from a lot of people can enhance an environment,” O’Gara reflected. “I didn’t really believe how valuable connections are. And that’s where he [Robertson] excels.
“The environment gives you the tools to get the best out of players with the personality profiling, with how to speak to players, with the pre-meetings, with a lot of strings to the bow before you even approach a topic.”
O’Gara even recalled the moment the lightbulb lit up during a 2018 game against the Hurricanes. “I can remember exactly where I was standing on the pitch [when I realised] my past was influencing my thought process.”
By way of payback, O’Gara introduced the Crusaders to the novelty and the intricacies of a true northern hemisphere line-speed defence, looking to penetrate gaps and hunt the ball rather than mark men. The pennies began to drop from Razor’s eyes and O’Gara’s methods provided a bedrock for the All Blacks’ improvement on D in the quarter-final of the 2023 World Cup against, of all people, his native Ireland.
“It really challenged me,” said Robertson. “[It was] totally different from what Wayne Smith built the foundations of the Crusaders on.”
New Zealand Rugby should be straining mightily to attract a coach of O’Gara’s calibre. With his background in Canterbury and an established relationship with the All Blacks supremo, he could bring his northern IP to bear with devastating results.
As ex-Crusaders and New Zealand full-back Israel Dagg commented on his Sport Nation NZ radio show: “If there’s someone out there, it’s potentially Ronan O’Gara. Razor has got a great relationship with him, I’ve been coached by him, he’s an awesome coach – I absolutely loved my time with Ronan.”
There is no better man to coach a sophisticated international attack than an ex-number 10 with 130 Test caps and a background as a defence coach. The All Blacks could certainly do with O’Gara’s expertise. In the key November match against England, they started with a hiss and a roar and led 12-0 after only 18 minutes, but could only manage a paltry seven points in the remaining 62 minutes.
Some of the situations which looked to be inviting an acceleration of attacking tempo with the attack sitting right on top of the defence, did just the opposite.
After a line-break:
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 19, 2025
Cam Roigard picks up the loose ball and breaks upfield, but instead of hustling to the line for the next phase of attack, Beauden Barrett sits deep for a chip kick to a pod of forwards alongside him, with the only other back in the vicinity [Quinn Tupaea] looking away from the ball. It never looks likely to work.
After a tapped penalty:
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 19, 2025
If the All Blacks choose to tap a penalty in the England half instead of kicking to touch for the lineout throw, they must have a special move in mind, right? Wrong. After two one-out runs by the forwards Barrett is back in the pocket, kicking the pill away without the certain knowledge New Zealand will get it back on the next play.
After a turnover with the fate of the game on the line, the All Blacks would surely be able to conjure some magic, wouldn’t they?
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 19, 2025
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) December 19, 2025
When Damian McKenzie finally connects with another back, Will Jordan is receiving the ball so far behind him that he can barely make it back to the ad-line. It goes from bad to worse in the second clip, with the ball out of the forward pod in front never even finding the full-back before Henry Pollock pounces and Tom Roebuck converts the turnover ball for England’s game-winning score.
With Jason Holland set to depart the national coaching staff, you have to wonder just how far the All Black net will be cast in the search to land a replacement. Will the trawl for talent take New Zealand Rugby on a voyage around Europe? Will it drop anchor at the Vieux Port in La Rochelle?
If it doesn’t, it ought to. O’Gara only has a couple of years left on his contract in France and was airing his desire to coach at international level as recently as this time last year: “There are Test jobs I’d bite people’s hands off for… I just want players to try and experience what I did. I got so much out of the game. It gave me wonderful emotions and now I want to really try and give back. I care a lot as a coach. I cared a lot as a player. It’s probably my greatest attribute. I spent two good seasons with Razor and was transformed by him. I see the good in people now and the possibilities.”
If that doesn’t motivate the All Blacks to reel him in, nothing will.
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