{"id":475119,"date":"2026-06-13T08:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T08:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/475119\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T08:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T08:37:10","slug":"rassie-erasmus-we-cant-be-angry-at-tony-brown-springboks-have-replacements-in-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/475119\/","title":{"rendered":"Rassie Erasmus: We can’t be angry at Tony Brown, Springboks have replacements ‘in mind’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Rassie Erasmus says that the Springboks already have a few candidates in mind to replace Tony Brown, who will join the All Blacks after the Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

New Zealand Rugby announced earlier this week that Brown had signed a two-year deal to become the All Blacks assistant coach after the 2027 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

The former fly-half joined Erasmus\u2019 Springboks coaching team in 2024, signing through to the conclusion of the World Cup cycle, and while SA Rugby and Erasmus were eager to extend his deal through to USA 2031, the lure of the All Blacks was too great for the attack guru to resist.<\/p>\n

Rassie Erasmus: We have replacements in mind for Tony Brown<\/p>\n

Speaking to the media from the Springboks<\/a> training camp ahead of the Gqeberha double-header next week, the head coach said that Brown<\/a> spoke openly about his desire to coach New Zealand<\/a> and that he was happy for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve rated him for a long time; we go a long way back, we are great friends,\u201d Erasmus began when asked about Brown\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will judge Tony for wanting to go back to New Zealand, but we are really, really happy for him. To go back home and coach the All Blacks, having played for the All Blacks, you can\u2019t be angry at the guy. He has spoken openly about it from the start, saying \u2018I\u2019ve signed a four-year deal here and if the All Blacks come, I can\u2019t say no\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has always been upfront about it that if he gets the opportunity to go back and coach the All Blacks, he would want to take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next Springboks attack guru: How Rassie Erasmus could fill Tony Brown\u2019s void and why it could be another ex-All Black<\/a><\/p>\n

The head coach adds that the Springboks coaches and players have learnt a lot from Brown during his two years with the squad and that in turn, the former All Black has learnt a lot too.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s openness means that SA Rugby weren\u2019t going to be caught off guard by his decision to return to New Zealand, and Erasmus says he already has a few coaches in mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a few guys in mind on who could replace Tony,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re happy that we still have him for two years. We still want to learn a lot from him, and we are very happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony Brown\u2019s \u2018really clear\u2019 verdict on new role as NZ Rugby are confident that any All Blacks coach \u2018will want\u2019 Springboks attack guru<\/a><\/p>\n

Future of the Bok assistant coaches<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, SA Rugby are yet to confirm the futures of the rest of Erasmus\u2019 coaching team after the head coach re-signed through to the next World Cup. It is understood that Erasmus hopes to retain the services of all of his current staff for the same length of time.<\/p>\n

The Boks boss has also stated that he is keen for the future of his assistants to be decided before the end of the year as he doesn\u2019t want their contracts to distract them from the task at hand \u2013 winning the Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve made the mistake in the past of negotiating contracts in a RWC year, and this clarity will allow us all to go full steam ahead with our preparations for this and next season,\u201d Erasmus said in the SA Rugby statement confirming Brown\u2019s return to New Zealand.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0All Blacks to rediscover \u2018something they lost\u2019 under Tony Brown, legend predicts<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rassie Erasmus says that the Springboks already have a few candidates in mind to replace Tony Brown, who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1463,1464,111,43,139,69,1468,1466,213,35256],"class_list":["post-475119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rassie-erasmus","tag-south-africa","tag-sports","tag-tony-brown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}