First Aled Walters, then Leon MacDonald and now Felix Jones. It’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks within the rugby teaching world.
Over the weekend, England’s defence coach Jones handed in his resignation simply 10 months after becoming a member of the Purple Rose set-up from South Africa.
Jones’ resolution follows on from Walters’ announcement that he was leaving England for Eire as Head of S&C.
Gerhard Steenekamp talks about making ready for the All Blacks
Gerhard Steenekamp talks about making ready for the All Blacks
Rumours counsel the first cause Jones desires out, simply when his blitz defensive system was beginning to bear fruit, is right down to an unstable teaching surroundings.
And based on former Springbok full-back Percy Montgomery, the star visitor on this week’s episode of Boks Workplace, Jones couldn’t have timed his exit higher – so long as the RFU don’t invoke the 12-month discover interval in his contract.
“If there’s a time to do it, the time is now. The subsequent World Cup is coming and also you need to get your teaching workforce collectively, that performs as you need,” he mentioned.
New Zealand, in the meantime, have been very clear {that a} lack of alignment in teaching philosophy was in charge for MacDonald leaving Scott Robertson’s All Blacks teaching workforce.
Now that MacDonald has gone, two different assistants, Scott Hansen and Tamati Ellison, will tackle extra obligations because the All Blacks put together for his or her greatest problem of the 12 months, in opposition to the world champion Springboks in Johannesburg on Saturday.
How lengthy that association will proceed is unclear however for nonetheless lengthy the All Blacks assault coach function stays vacant, Springbok supporters, Montgomery included, will likely be on edge.
Having slipped by the New Zealand rugby’s fingers, the Kiwi has gone to the Springboks and has made a big impact on their assault.
“Brownie has clearly been huge since he’s are available,” in-form Springboks centre Jesse Kriel mentioned this week.
“He’s introduced an incredible vitality and an incredible change, not a change in mindset however a good way of seeing assault,” Kriel informed reporters in Johannesburg.
“I believe he’s obtained the blokes within the room actually excited which is superior. I additionally assume he’s obtained us enjoying a very thrilling model of rugby that the blokes are having fun with.”
Brown has designs on working with the All Blacks sooner or later, just lately saying: “In the future, perhaps I would coach the All Blacks – I don’t know. I simply need to be a part of this teaching set-up and the Springboks over the subsequent 4 years.” And that makes individuals like Montgomery nervous.
Montgomery mentioned: “I simply hope Tony Brown doesn’t go to New Zealand and we hold him right here. I performed with Tony Brown when he was on the Sharks, when he was fly-half there. He’s an incredible man and I can see his contribution to South African rugby, with the attacking.”
Whereas Springboks rugby is driving the crest of a wave beneath Brown, it was a unique story when he and Montgomery toured Australia along with the Natal Sharks.
Talking with Boks Workplace presenter Hanyani ‘Shimmy’ Shimange and fellow pundits Jean de Villers and Schalk Burger, he tells the story of the time when Brown was all at sea.
“We stayed on the Manly Pacific in Sydney, and the Sunday after the sport vs New South Wales, we went for lunch and perhaps we had one or two beers,” he mentioned.
“Strolling again to the lodge – in these days he had these curly blonde locks and I believed he was a surfer – I mentioned, ‘hey Tony, ‘the waves are fairly cool, we could go for a surf?’ So we seize our boards, paddle out, and I can’t discover him. I catch a wave again in and there he’s, bleeding.
“I needed to take him to the physician for stitches. I by no means knew he couldn’t surf.”
Episode 20 of Boks Workplace will likely be out there to look at on RugbyPass TV later right now (Tuesday).
