A trio of All Blacks legends are hopeful that New Zealand Rugby can bring Tony Brown home, but admit they face a huge challenge to prize him away from the Springboks.
The search is no doubt already underway for their next coaching team after the governing body decided to axe Scott Robertson.
Highlanders boss Jamie Joseph is the favourite to take the role until the end of the Rugby World Cup, but that could depend on whether his regular partner in crime, Tony Brown, is available.
Those two have worked well together over the years but, with Brown currently contracted to the Springboks, the NZR could find it difficult to bring him back to New Zealand.
Joe Schmidt is another potential option for the All Blacks head coach position, but Justin Marshall, Jeff Wilson and Mils Muliaina believe that Joseph is being lined up.
Brown ‘would love to coach the All Blacks’
“It would be hard to believe he’s (Joseph) not the guy they’ve targeted to take over and they will be hoping they can lure Tony Brown back from the Springboks,” Wilson said on The Breakdown.
“I would be surprised if Tony hasn’t left a door open. I know that he was offering to help the Highlanders in the early part of this season and South African rugby were happy for him to do that.
“It didn’t quite work out for other reasons but in the back of his mind, I think he’s looked at it and gone, ‘I would love to coach the All Blacks with Jamie Joseph’.
“This may have come a couple of years sooner than he thought, he may have been thinking post-Rugby World Cup, but it’s come now.
“I don’t know that but I would be surprised if he hasn’t got an out. I know he loves coaching and I think he would love to coach the All Blacks.”
Marshall then had his say, adding: “I think that would be his ultimate ambition and goal but I would imagine they’ve got him in concrete over there with the All Blacks coming this year.
“They would have locked him in and from all accounts having spoken to him, he’s in a great environment and he loves what he’s doing.
“It would take something really significant to move him on and the All Blacks are significant, so there could be a possibility.”
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Joseph is highly regarded in New Zealand and there were perhaps signs that the governing body were putting a contingency plan in place when he took charge of the second-string All Blacks XV on their November tour.
The 56-year-old did a fine job during that month as they claimed three successive victories over the Barbarians, England A and Uruguay, and he might have done enough to convince the hierarchy that he is ready to step into Robertson’s shoes.
“Jamie’s the most likely candidate having gone away with that All Blacks XV, so it’s kind of a stepping stone there and by all accounts that was a really harmonious trip really enjoyed by the players,” Marshall said.
“Obviously, the other coaches that come into the mix are coaches that are outside of New Zealand – Clayton McMillan is one, Dave Rennie another. That’s having to bring people back into the environment and reset them.
“With one two years out from this World Cup, it would have to be a massive favourite towards Jamie because he’s here and he’s doing it now.”
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Jamie Joseph but no Brown?
Muliaina was even more definite over his view on Joseph but was less convinced that Brown would be joining him.
“Put Jamie Joseph in there, he is the man to go. We shouldn’t be going around, saying: ‘let’s open things up’. I know they’ve got to go through a process but Jamie Joseph’s your man.
“We’ve got about the world that we’re in with players getting a lot more say… but if ever there’s a man that’s gone through that, he went through that himself.
“At Wellington when he came in hard, he had All Blacks that didn’t like the way that he did things; he changed it.
“He went across to Japan and coached there, so he’s got that sort of experience. He’s come back, he hasn’t just got the All Blacks coaching job handed to him, he’s work his butt off to be able to get there.
“The biggest part to me is I would be very surprised if South Africa let Tony Brown go, they would be stupid to do that. Why would you let Tony Brown go? There’s no way.”
If NZR are unable to hire the current Springboks attack guru, then the All Blacks centurion believes that they should look at bringing in former Chiefs and Wallabies boss Rennie.
“I hope he’s got a clause in there because Jamie Joseph for me, Tony Brown if you can get him, but Dave Rennie is another guy that has gone through all that experience,” Muliaina added.
“What he’s done at the Chiefs, I think he would make a great assistant coach… because of that old school way. I think there still needs to be a balance.”