Assistant coaches could hold key to All Blacks job

As an All Black, Tony Brown played just 18 Tests and lived almost permanently in the shadow of one of the greatest New Zealand fly-halves of the modern era, Andrew Mehrtens.

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As a coach, he won’t be applying for the vacant position with the All Blacks himself, but by stepping out of the shadows to stand alongside the out-of-contract Japanese boss Jamie Joseph, Brown may have made himself the unlikeliest of kingmakers in the race to succeed Steve Hansen.

Like Wayne Smith before him, Brown has preferred to live the life of the assistant coach, focusing on the attacking strategy while leaving the non-coaching duties to his boss.

It’s a method that has worked, most recently for Japan’s celebrated Rugby World Cup campaign, where Brown was credited for the exhilarating attack that exposed both Ireland and Scotland.

That success earned Brown high praise and has made him a man in demand.

So much so that he was courted by the leading All Black coaching contenders Ian Foster and Scott Robertson before this week declaring his intention to remain at Joseph’s side.

Brown’s rebuff was the second blow in just over a week for Foster, who would have been a shoe-in for the job had the All Blacks defended the Rugby World Cup, and almost as likely had they gotten past England to make the final.

The comprehensive manner of the semi-final exit has left Hansen’s longtime assistant vulnerable, especially as the public has rather unfairly never warmed to the former Chiefs coach, meaning their desire to see change is strong.

The acquisition of Brown, and also of Joseph, who was rumoured to have been another target for the Foster ticket, would have been popular, and could have shored up his candidacy.

Instead, even though Joseph is yet to declare his intentions, it seems likely that Foster will now be in competition with the pair, whose work with Japan presents a compelling case for the job.