All Blacks announce shock coaching departure

The All Blacks will embark on their two-test tilt to South Africa without assistant coach Leon MacDonald, who has left his post in the team’s coaching group.

New Zealand Rugby announced the move today. After several weeks of discussions between head coach Scott Robertson and MacDonald on their working approach, NZR confirmed the pair mutually agreed to part way and MacDonald will not be replaced.

Assistant coach Scott Hansen and contact skills coach Tamati Ellison will take on additional responsibilities for the remainder of the season.

“Leon and I have been having some honest conversations with each other for a little while now,” Robertson said.

“As coaches we have differing views and both agreed it wasn’t working. Leon and I both care deeply about the All Blacks and we believe we’ve made a decision that’s best for this team.

“There’s a huge amount of respect and appreciation for Leon in the group and the work he’s put in to get us to this point in our journey. As a team we have acknowledged that contribution and our focus now needs to be on South Africa, it’s going to be two tough test matches over there.”

MacDonald was widely linked to a role within Robertson’s coaching team after the former Crusaders mentor was confirmed as the new head coach of the national team, as MacDonald was a part of Robertson’s ticket when he lost out to Foster in late 2019.

The former Blues head coach was in demand on the international stage before signing on with the All Blacks. The Herald reported in March last year that MacDonald was approached about taking charge of Scotland following the World Cup, while also fielding interest to replace former England head coach Stuart Lancaster as Leo Cullen’s assistant at glamour Irish club Leinster.

Speaking about MacDonald’s departure, NZ Rugby’s head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum said the discussions over the past couple of weeks made it clear that MacDonald and Robertson had differing views on approach, methodology and how the game is played.

“I appreciate it’s probably sudden news, and probably seems out of the norm,” Lendrum said.

“As you’d expect, they’ve been really honest conversations. You’ve got two high-quality, winning coaches, two former All Blacks that care passionately about the team, and what’s best for the team.

“Where they’ve got to is that they haven’t really clicked as coaches together ... they’ve made a brave and decisive call to part ways now. Leon has made the decision to exit the All Blacks as a result.

“Obviously, he goes with our best wishes, he’s a superb coach. He’s obviously given a lot to coaching before the All Blacks, most recently with the Blues and the All Blacks XV. There’s a lot of respect and affection for him here.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission