All Blacks coach addresses impact of Leon MacDonald’s departure as they prepare for ‘feral’ South Africa
All Blacks forwards guru Jason Ryan and ex-attack coach Leon MacDonald.
Jason Ryan is adamant that the All Blacks have moved on quickly from Leon MacDonald’s departure, insisting that it is “last week’s news”.
The 46-year-old attack guru left the set-up with immediate effect ahead of their trip to South Africa after a clash with head honcho Scott Robertson.
It is not the sort of disruption New Zealand needed as they prepare to face the world champions in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Robertson came out immediately following the announcement on Thursday to explain the situation but there has been little reaction from inside the camp until Ryan spoke to the media.
‘We move on’
“Obviously the conversations were had and the decisions were made, and we move on pretty quickly. And you have to, to be fair. I have got a massive amount of respect for Leon as a man and as a coach, and as I have Razor,” the forwards coach said.
“They have come to that decision, and as far as we are concerned it’s last week’s news and we keep moving forward.”
Ryan also revealed that the coaches made sure that the players knew about the news prior to it being made public.
“Yeah, that was all covered,” he said. “We connected with the boys before it became knowledge to everyone, let them all know. Ray [Robertson] spoke to the leaders, and then, yeah, and the staff, and we just get on with it.”
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There has been a rejig of the coaching staff following MacDonald’s exit with Scott Hansen helping with the attack and Tamati Ellison moving to defence.
Ryan admitted that the players and the backroom team have had to adapt, but that the squad understand their roles and what they are looking to do against the Springboks.
“A little bit, I guess, but the boys are across the detail. They’ve come up to speed really quickly and got done what we needed to earlier in the week and we’re looking forward to it,” he said.
“So I think, yeah, the adjustments have been pretty seamless to be fair.”
Springboks challenge
The All Blacks go into Saturday’s Rugby Championship encounter as underdogs, but there is no doubt that Robertson’s men have the quality to test the Springboks.
Ryan insists that South Africa will look to intimidate New Zealand, mentioning that their last trip in 2022 saw “a few hand signals and empty cans” come their way, but the coach is relishing the challenge.
“As Dane Coles once said it’s probably the greatest challenge and best arena you can test yourself in the All Blacks. We’re really excited by that. We’ll embrace that and walk towards it,” he said.
“They’re the world champions; 64,000 roaring South Africans, it doesn’t get any better, so we can’t wait.
“Even the bus trip is pretty feral. There’s a few hand signals and a few empty cans coming towards the window and that sort of thing. In all honesty it’s probably coming from a good place.
“It’s a great rivalry, the All Blacks and Springboks. As much as they want to beat us there’s a good amount of respect there – as there is from us.”
