Tony Brown discusses phone call from Rassie Erasmus that lead to joining Springboks

The lure of working with World Cup-winning coach Rassie Erasmus was too great for former All Black Tony Brown to turn down, as South Africa begin their quest to win a record third successive title.

Brown, 49, has joined South Africa through to the end of 2027, and will work as Erasmus’ attack coach in a new-look Springboks set-up.

The 18-test All Black is one of the most coveted minds in world rugby, after making his name as an assistant to compatriot Jamie Joseph with Japan.

But as Joseph left the Brave Blossoms after last year’s World Cup in France, Erasmus wasted no time in bringing Brown on board with the Springboks, after he returned to the role following four years as Director of Rugby under Jacques Nienaber.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks also opted for change in the form of Scott Robertson, who has selected former Blues coach Leon MacDonald to be his attack coach through until the end of 2027 at least.

However, speaking for the first time as South Africa’s attack coach, Brown said the possibility of one day working with the All Blacks isn’t one he’s entertaining - for now.

“One day, I might coach the All Blacks,” he said of his future ambitions. “But I just want to be part of this coaching set-up [and] be part of the Springboks over the next four years.

“As soon as Rassie rung me, I said yes. I’ve got so much respect for what Rassie’s done with South Africa, I’m just excited to come in and be part of it. [To] watch him operate, learn from him, learn from all the other coaches.”

After the retirement of Sir Steve Hansen in 2019, Brown was wanted by all contenders to be attack coach of the All Blacks.

Both Ian Foster and Scott Robertson courted Brown when they applied for the job, only to see him remain loyal to Joseph, who pulled out of the race.

And it was that loyalty to Joseph that saw Brown spurn the advances of the two contenders.

“When I got asked to coach the All Blacks, what is it? Five years ago now? It just didn’t feel right,” he added.

“I’ve obviously had a really good relationship with Jamie Joseph. If he had got the All Blacks coaching job, one hundred percent, I would have been in with him.

“But it just didn’t feel right to coach with the other guys that were going for that job, so Jamie and I went back to Japan. Now he’s not coaching anymore.”