Springbok legend highlights where Tony Brown has had ‘big impact’ but All Blacks great doesn’t feel assistant’s New Zealand return will cause ‘too much of a bother’
Legendary Springbok Victor Matfield, inset, has shared his thoughts on assistant coach Tony Brown agreeing a deal with the All Blacks
Sunday’s revelation that Springboks assistant coach Tony Brown has signed a two-year contract to join the arch-rival All Blacks in 2028 has been dissected by two greats of the international game.
Rugby World Cup winners Victor Matfield and John Kirwan have chewed the fat regarding the development that will see Brown exit the Boks following next year’s finals in Australia to link up with Dave Rennie’s New Zealand.
Having won 18 caps as an All Black fly-half between 1999 and 2001, he earned his coaching stripes in Super Rugby before assisting Japan to reach the 2019 World Cup quarter-finals.
He then spent time back at the Highlanders before agreeing to join Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks in 2024, and his impressive work in layering up the South African attack as it looks to win a third successive World Cup resulted in New Zealand Rugby compiling a deal that has tempted the Kiwi home.
“I haven’t seen NZR do anything like this…”
New All Blacks boss Rennie, who has yet to have his first match at the helm since succeeding Scott Robertson, originally inked a deal taking him through to next year’s World Cup, but NZR want him in situ for the long haul and have now recruited Brown to work as an assistant from 2028 on a two-year deal.
It’s nothing new for the Springboks to lose coaches to rival countries so far in advance of their existing contracts expiring. Ahead of the 2023 World Cup, they allowed Jacques Nienaber to arrange his post-tournament deal with Leinster and for Felix Jones to agree to join England.
However, in a year when the South Africans are busily promoting the incoming Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks, New Zealand’s future recruitment of Erasmus’ assistant Brown will add a level of intrigue to the four-game match-up.
The dynamics of Brown’s impending 2028 switch from green to black were a hot topic on Rugby Rivals, with Kirwan, the 1987 World Cup winner who coached Italy and Japan at Test level, giving kudos to NZR for getting their future planning done so early. “I haven’t seen New Zealand Rugby do anything like this, so I am really excited about it,” he enthused.
“For them to announce something so far ahead, it’s the first time I have seen them be really, really positive in what they want to do moving forward. I understand he [Brown] has got to stay and do his job, and then we are going to steal all your IP and bring it back to New Zealand, which is what you guys have done with Brownie in the first place. It’s going to be one back.”
Matfield replied: “The one thing I do like about Rassie is that he is open communication. Before the previous World Cup, we knew Jacques and Felix were going to leave almost a year before the World Cup, and they still did a fantastic job, so it’s all about open communication.
“And also, that must be Tony’s dream. He is a New Zealander, he is a proud All Black, it must be the ultimate job for him. We’ll use him, we’ll tap into all his knowledge for this last year. Hopefully he gets a World Cup as well with the Boks, and then it is going to be an even bigger rivalry.”
Looking back on his own career, 2007 World Cup winner Matfield recalled an awkward situation with coach Gert Smal swapping sides, moving from assisting South Africa to helping Ireland. This left him vulnerable, given his role as the Springbok lineout talisman, and the Irish were able to master his tactics when the side met in Dublin in November 2009.
Looking at the current Springbok style that Brown has helped to flourish, Matfield said: “I played with that Bulls team that really dominated, and what Rassie is doing at the moment, everyone knows what the DNA of the Springboks is. They want to dominate set-piece, they want to dominate territory, kicking game, aerial battle, it’s so important for us.
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“And then we have got some X factor players in the wings and the outside backs, something we probably changed in the last few years when we went to smaller, quicker guys that can really step and hurt you from anywhere on the field. Most of the guys know exactly what we do and how we do it.
“Yes, of course, I remember when Gert Smal went to Ireland, and he worked with me for hours on lineouts. It was very difficult because he knew exactly how I thought about the game.
“So of course, there will be certain things he [Brown] will be able to take there (to New Zealand), but remember it’s going to be the same way the other way around. He is sharing everything with the Boks, he is giving his best to the beat so that when he goes there, we will also know how he thinks and what he would like to get out of the attack.”
Kirwan played down the significance of someone switching rival sides. “The game moves pretty fast now, too, and if you think about our game, besides the odd DNA difference, which is what Victor is talking about, everyone is playing pods, everyone is doing kicks, everyone is doing pretty much the same.
“There is not a lot of innovation in the game at the moment… It’s really the ability of the coaches to get the best out of the players as well, and that’s one thing that Brownie is very good at, he is very, very good at giving players the confidence to try stuff. So, I don’t think it [the switch] is too much of a bother.
“Back in the day, what used to happen at the end of Super Rugby is all the coaches would get together and share their ideas, and people overseas would go, ‘Why would you do that?’ Well, once you have shared your ideas, you have got to get better and move on and start being a bit more innovative.”
Matfield concluded: “It’s all about execution. For me, it was always people saying what is game plan one, what is game plan B, C, D. It was just really about that.
“It was having all these options and getting your players to make better decisions in the moment because of what they see in front of them, and that’s where Tony had a big impact with the Springboks as well, just really to look up, see what’s happening in front of you and then to make the right call.
“That is what it is about. It’s not all about we’re going to play this style, that style, it’s all about making the right decisions under pressure in the face of defences.”
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