Gregor Paul: New Zealand Rugby's real coaching superstar

Tony Brown, head coach of the Highlanders, looks on prior to the round 5 Super Rugby Aotearoa match between the Highlanders and the Hurricanes. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

OPINION:

Beating the Chiefs on Saturday night won Crusaders coach Scott Robertson Super Rugby title number five, the right to choreograph another memorable breakdance routine and a further mile of column inches proclaiming him as the country's best rugby coach.

He is, once again, the man of the moment, the coach with the Midas touch whose Super Rugby record is now beyond impressive.

And yet, while Robertson is undeniably a coach on the rise and a man with plenty to offer, he didn't end Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa with the most pressing case to be involved with the All Blacks.

What Super Rugby Aotearoa revealed is that Highlanders coach Tony Brown is the man New Zealand Rugby need to somehow persuade to give up his gig with the Japanese national team and commit to the All Blacks.

As much as Robertson is fascinating, Brown is the real coaching superstar and the man with the most pressing claim to be injected into the All Blacks coaching mix.

Head Coach Scott Robertson of the Crusaders speaks to his charges during the round nine Super Rugby Aotearoa. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

The Highlanders are feeling the pain of losing him for the trans-Tasman Super Rugby component, but that pales in comparison with the agony NZR must feel, knowing that such a clever and innovative operator is, for the next two years at least, the property of Japan.

A campaign that yielded just three wins is a tough place from which to mount such a strong argument but Brown was operating with easily the weakest squad in the competition.

The Highlanders had an X-factor of one – which was Aaron Smith. and yet they beat the Crusaders, Blues and Chiefs with performances that were ridiculously brave, dynamic and innovative.

There was a much of a muchness in Super Rugby Aoteaora this year – a predictable base pattern from which four of the teams operated. And then there was the Highlanders, dancing to a different beat, as was noted by no less an authority than former All Blacks coach Wayne Smith.

Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson and Highlanders head coach Tony Brown. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

He said mid-way through the season that much of the rugby felt robotic, with the exception of the Highlanders. "They know how to keep the ball alive. Parts of the game aren't working for them, but they're beautiful to watch at times with their support play. Their players arrive thinking they're going to get an offload before they clean … I really enjoy that about them."

And that was the magic of Brown's coaching. He had a plan that was different to everyone else's and somehow he enabled the bulk of his squad to play at, or close to, the peak of their ability for most of the season.

Mitch Hunt was a revelation at first-five, establishing himself as easily the second best No 10 in the country behind Richie Mo'unga, while others such as Billy Harmon and Ash Dixon played at a level other clubs had decided was beyond them.

Brown seems to possess a rare ability to turn less into more and can dramatically influence whatever group is under his charge.

The Highlanders were crowned Super Rugby champions in 2015 with a squad most experts predicted pre-season would finish well down the table. And yet there they were, out-thinking and out-playing the star-studded Hurricanes in the final.

While it was Jamie Joseph at the helm back then, he never hid the fact that Brown, as his assistant, was due much of the credit for the success.

Which was the case again at least year's World Cup where Japan, under the Joseph and Brown combination, made the quarter-finals after beating Ireland and Scotland.

Wherever Brown goes, be it as assistant or head coach, his fingerprints end up all over the team, which is why he was in such demand in late 2019 – finding himself on so many coaching tickets.

Joseph wanted him to stay in Japan for another four years, while Ian Foster and Robertson both asked him to be on their respective teams as they competed for the All Blacks job.

Crusaders Scott Barrett and Scott Robertson celebrate winning the Super Rugby Aotearoa 2021. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

In a sign of his underlying integrity and loyalty, Brown pulled out of the All Blacks contest and committed to Joseph – publicly declaring that he didn't feel it was right for him to be a potential candidate across so many head coach bids.

He did the right thing, but it doesn't change the fact that Japan's gain was New Zealand's loss and that Brown, rather than Robertson, is the All Blacks' highest priority, must-capture rugby property.

Brown has shown he fits into coaching teams neatly and expertly as an assistant and he and Foster – himself an intriguingly deep and creative thinker – could form the sort of one-step-ahead of everyone else combination that the All Blacks are looking for.