'We lost our identity': Tony Brown's subtle dig at sacked Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger
New Highlanders coach Tony Brown has had a subtle dig at Aaron Mauger, saying the team lost their identity during his tenure.
Mauger was dumped as head coach of the Highlanders in September after three years in charge following an internal review at the end of this year's Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Brown, who served as attack coach under Mauger this year, says the Dunedin franchise needs to rediscover its "identity", something he believes they've lost in the last few years.
"I just think it's really important that we create an identity that's [the] Highlanders," Brown said.
"I think potentially we might have lost a little bit of that over the last few years.
"I want to take us back to that identity and make sure the players understand that, what the environment is about, play good footy and entertain the fans."
The Highlanders haven't managed to replicate the success under Jamie Joseph and Brown, when they took out the Super Rugby crown in 2015.
They've since also lost a host of experienced players like former All Blacks Ben Smith and Waisake Naholo.
Brown and Mauger will go head-to-head this weekend when the Moana Pasfika side take on the M?ori All Blacks.
Meanwhile, the Highlanders revealed their Super Rugby squad for 2021 headlined by the return of Liam Squire who is back from a brief stint playing in Japan.
There are six new faces and two returning players in the team co-captained by Ash Dixon and Aaron Smith.
Highlanders' 2021 Super Rugby squad
Props: Ayden Johnstone, Siate Tokolahi, Daniel Lienert-Brown, Jeff Thwaites, Ethan de Groot, Jermaine Ainsley, Josh Hohneck
Hookers: Ricky Jackson, Ash Dixon, Liam Coltman
Locks: Pari Pari Parkinson, Josh Dickson, Maanaki Selby-Rickit, Bryn Evans
Loose forwards: Billy Harmon, James Lentjes, Shannon Frizell, Marino Mikaele Tu'u, Sione Misiloi, Teariki Ben-Nicholas, Liam Squire, Kazuki Himeno
Halfbacks: Aaron Smith, Kayne Hammington, Folau Fakatava
First-fives: Josh Ioane, Mitchell Hunt
Midfield: Fetuli Paea, Sio Tomkinson, Thomas Umaga Jensen, Ngane Punivai
Outside backs: Nehe Milner Skudder, Connor Garden Bachop, Scott Gregory, Jona Nareki, Solomon Alaimalo, Michael Collins, Sam Gilbert, Vilimoni Koroi
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lol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
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