Springboks assistant coach Tony Brown says that he remains committed to the Springboks and plans to \u2018honour\u2019 his contract.<\/p>\n
Rassie Erasmus recruited the former All Blacks<\/a> fly-half to run South Africa\u2019s attack following the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and the move has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the men in Green and Gold.<\/p>\n The news of Scott Robertson\u2019s<\/a> sacking as All Blacks head coach has led to speculation linking Brown with a return to New Zealand, particularly if Jamie Joseph is named as the new boss.<\/p>\n Erasmus took to social media<\/a> to dispel the rumours, and Brown<\/a> has confirmed that his loyalties remain with the Springboks<\/a> and that he plans to see out the remainder of his contract, which runs through to the end of the 2027 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n He said as much in an interview with NewsTalk ZB<\/a> when asked for his reaction to Robertson\u2019s sacking.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s pretty bizarre, the timing around what\u2019s happened, and no sort of plan going forward,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n \u201cMy name is getting thrown in there plenty, but no one\u2019s really talked to me. So I\u2019ve always just been going back to South Africa to finish my contract, and happily so.\u201d<\/p>\n While he remains committed to seeing out his contract with the Springboks, Brown openly expressed his desire to coach the All Blacks one day.<\/p>\n Scott Robertson\u2019s offer<\/p>\n In fact, the 51-year-old was given the opportunity to do so late last year, as he revealed that Robertson made an attempt to lure him back to Aotearoa, possibly at the time when Jason Holland\u2019s departure from his role in the coaching team was confirmed.<\/p>\n In an interview with The Post<\/a>, he stated that he doesn\u2019t have an \u2018out\u2019 of his contract with SA Rugby. Still, he didn\u2019t entertain Robertson\u2019s offer.<\/p>\n While he is happy to be working with the Springboks, he admits that he is frustrated that New Zealand Rugby and the All Blacks didn\u2019t reach out two years ago after he left his position with Japan.<\/p>\n \u201c100% yes,\u201d he replied when asked if he would \u2018bite someone\u2019s hand off\u2019 to work with the All Blacks, if he wasn\u2019t employed with the Boks.<\/p>\n \u201cI would have two years ago as well, and in the future, it\u2019s definitely something I want to do.<\/p>\n \u201cJust the timing hasn\u2019t worked. My commitment to South Africa was for four years, and I\u2019ve always had the plan to honour that commitment.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s very frustrating [that timing hasn\u2019t worked out].<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve even talked to Razor a couple of months ago about potentially joining the All Blacks, but it\u2019s like I said to him, my commitment to South Africa was four years, and I\u2019ve always wanted to honour that. And I said, I\u2019m just so frustrated that no one talked to me two years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s rugby, that\u2019s coaching, and he had his coaches, and I just had to go and find another job.\u201d<\/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 Springboks legend: Rassie Erasmus probably the only one that can save the All Blacks<\/a><\/p>\n Frustration with New Zealand Rugby<\/p>\n When Ian Forster made it clear that he would not be re-applying for his job after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Robertson and Joseph were the two main candidates for the position.<\/p>\n The two coaches were tasked with putting together a potential backroom team as part of the application process, and Brown featured on Joseph\u2019s shortlist, with the pair working together previously at the Highlanders and Japan.<\/p>\n Asked if New Zealand Rugby should have spoken to him at the time, when the decision was made to back Robertson, to gauge his interest, Brown replied: \u201cWho knows?<\/p>\n \u201cIt was definitely the Scott Robertson team versus Jamie Joseph\u2019s team. That\u2019s the process that New Zealand Rugby set up.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think, with me being with Jamie, Scott potentially didn\u2019t want to take me as well. He had quality coaches, including Jason Holland, Leon MacDonald, Scott Hansen, and Jason Ryan, so they had a strong coaching team. Jamie put his team together, and I was part of that.<\/p>\n \u201cThe New Zealand Rugby Union went with Scott, who probably deserved the job with his success. So it was just the way it was.\u201d<\/p>\n