All Blacks assistant coach Leon MacDonald quits before Springboks Tests

The All Blacks have announced a significant change to their staff ahead of two Tests against the Springboks, with assistant coach Leon MacDonald stepping down after “some honest conversations” with Scott Robertson.

New Zealand Rugby revealed on Thursday that head coach ‘Razor’ Robertson and MacDonald have held discussions on their working approach for several weeks. As a result, the pair have mutually agreed to part ways.

MacDonald was the head coach of the Blues in Super Rugby Pacific before leaving the franchise to take up an opportunity with the national team. In April of last year, it was announced the 46-year-old would join the All Blacks as their attack coach.

With MacDonald leaving the All Blacks ahead of two Tests against the world champion Springboks in South Africa, NZR has confirmed that assistant coach Scott Hansen and contact skills coach Tamaiti Ellison will take on more responsibilities for the rest of the year.

“Leon and I have been having some honest conversations with each other for a little while now,” All Blacks coach Scott Robertson said. “As coaches, we have differing views and both agreed it wasn’t working.

“Leon and I both care deeply about the All Blacks and we believe we’ve made a decision that’s best for this team.

“There’s a huge amount of respect and appreciation for Leon in the group and the work he’s put in to get us to this point in our journey. AS a team we have acknowledged that contribution and our focus now needs to be on South Africa, it’s going to be two tough Test matches over there.”

The All Blacks’ new-look coaching group only had five Tests together up until this shock announcement. New Zealand snuck by England in two Tests before piling on 47 points in a massive win over Fiji during the July series.

But the All Blacks were left stunned in their next fixture when they went down swinging 38-30 to Los Pumas at Wellington’s Sky Stadium earlier this month. The Kiwis did claim some revenge a week later with a 42-10 win over Argentina at Eden Park in Auckland.

Aside from the wins over Fiji and Argentina, New Zealand have looked like a team that’s still trying to find their way under a new coaching group. But still, after only five matches, MacDonald’s decision to quit is significant during The Rugby Championship.

“You’ve got two great coaches who have been having some robust but constructive discussions on the approach to driving the All Blacks over a period of time now. Ultimately, they have made a brave decision that they believe is best for the team,” NZR Head of Professional Rugby and Performance, Chris Lendrum, added.

“Leon is a highly regarded coach and has made a huge contribution to rugby across a number of teams in New Zealand, and we’d love to have him back in our system in the future. For now, I’d like to thank him on behalf of NZR and wish him all the very best.”