How Tony Brown ended up in the Springboks and not the All Blacks coaching box
A look at how Tony Brown ended up coaching the Springboks' attack instead of the All Blacks.
When the Springboks and All Blacks meet at Ellis Park in the Rugby Championship, it will be the first time that Tony Brown goes toe-to-toe with his home country in his new role in Rassie Erasmus’ coaching team.
However, he could quite easily have been in the opposing coaching box in Johannesburg had things worked out in Scott Robertson’s favour.
In fact, Brown was the current All Blacks coach’s first choice pick as his right-hand man back in 2019 when he was vying to replace Sir Steve Hansen in the hot seat.
But as fate would have it, Robertson arrives in the Republic for his first tussle with the All Blacks‘ fiercest foe without an attack coach following the departure of Leon MacDonald – with assistants Scott Hansen and Tamaiti Ellison sharing the duties.
So how did it come about that one of the most respected attack gurus in the game slipped through the All Blacks’ fingers and ended up in their adversary’s coaching box?
It all goes back to 2019
Ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, long-time All Blacks coach Hansen confirmed that he would be vacating his role after the tournament in Japan.
His announcement meant that New Zealand Rugby would be searching for his successor as they opened up the application process.
At the time there were three front runners for the role, Crusaders guru and then triple-title-winning coach Robertson, Hansen’s lieutenant Ian Foster and ex-Highlanders boss and the man who had taken Japan to new heights, Jamie Joseph.
However, applying for the All Blacks’ top gig then was not about selling yourself and promoting the individual traits that would make you the ideal candidate, but convincing the New Zealand Rugby board that you had a supporting cast that was capable of performing with you.
This meant that those aspiring to coach the men in the iconic black jerseys had to either back themselves for the top job or put their backing behind who they believed would be the winning candidate or the man they had loyalty to.
Effectively, this left Brown with a choice to make between his old mate Joseph, who he enjoyed success with working as his assistant at the Highlanders, Sunwolves and Japan or taking on a new challenge with his ex-All Blacks team-mate.
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“Tony made his call”
Ultimately, he chose loyalty, joining Joseph in the race until he opted to pull out and remain in charge of the Brave Blossoms, signing a contract extension with the Japan Rugby Football Union.
“Tony made his call,” Robertson said back in 2019 when Brown revealed his decision.
“It was a tough phone call to make. We had planned for a while to work together. He showed his hand to work with Jamie – and his loyalty. I appreciate it was a tough call for him to make to me.”
Despite New Zealand Rugby’s decision to ask candidates to piece together their backroom staff in the application process, Brown was still offered a route into the All Blacks set-up working under Hansen’s successor, Foster.
However, the former fly-half again showed that loyalty is a key characteristic of his as he turned down the opportunity simply because for him “it didn’t feel right”.
“When I got asked to coach the All Blacks five years ago, for me, it just didn’t feel right,” Brown said earlier this year after joining Erasmus’ staff at the Springboks.
“I obviously had a really good relationship with Jamie Joseph and if he had got the All Blacks coaching job, then 100 per cent I would have been in with him.
“It just didn’t feel right for me to coach with the other guys going for that job, so Jamie and I went back to Japan to coach Japan.”
Joseph was again in the running for the All Blacks’ top job in 2023 following Foster’s decision not to re-apply for the gig after the World Cup in France.
Robertson had been tipped to replace Foster after a home series loss to Ireland in 2022 and an opening Rugby Championship defeat to South Africa, but New Zealand Rugby’s plans to make the change were thwarted by the players intervening.
While Joseph rivalled Robertson for the job again in 2023 – also with the backing of Brown – he was unsuccessful and would vacate his role with Japan after the World Cup, leaving the ex-All Blacks fly-half in limbo.
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“One day, maybe I might coach the All Blacks”
It was only in July of this year that Joseph secured a new head coach role as it was confirmed that he would rejoin the Highlanders ahead of the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season.
“Now he [Joseph] is not coaching any more and as soon as Rassie rang me, I said yes. I’ve got so much respect for what Rassie’s done with South Africa, I’m just excited to be part of it, watch him operate, learn from him and all the other coaches,” Brown further explained after being appointed as the Boks’ new assistant.
It’s not the first time that Erasmus and Brown have worked together though as it was back in 2008 when the All Blacks pivot joined the Erasmus-coached Stormers for the Super Rugby season. He would go on to play seven times for the side in what was his second stint in South Africa after representing the Sharks two years prior.
While Brown has turned down the All Blacks previously, and now has his sights set on helping the team become the first nation to win three Rugby World Cups in a row, he has not ruled out coaching the side further down the line.
“One day, maybe I might coach the All Blacks – I don’t know. I just want to be part of this coaching set-up and the Springboks over the next four years,” he said.
