Rassie talks about Tony Brown 'beyond 2027'
INTERVIEW: The South African Rugby Union has already made All Black Tony Brown an offer to stay in the Republic.
Brown, the Springboks’ attack coach since January 2024, has been linked to a return to his native New Zealand since the unceremonious dumping of Scott Robertson as All Black coach in December.
However, there is no guarantee that Brown, currently in New Zealand, will stay on after the 2027 World Cup.
The 18-times capped All Black remains in demand in New Zealand, but will not cut his Bok contract short.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus confirmed on Monday that several members of the coaching staff have received offers to extend their stay with the national team.
Erasmus said the reason behind the ‘advanced’ negotiations is to remove the uncertainty that cropped in the build-up to previous World Cups around the vexed issues of contract uncertainty.
“You don’t want, in a World Cup year, people being unsure about their futures,” Erasmus said at Springbok headquarters in the Plattekloof suburb of Cape Town.
“Jacques Nienaber was a classic example,” he said of the World Cup-winning former Bok coach’s decision to announce his move to Leinster in Ireland in the build-up to the 2023 tournament.
“Everybody has signed till 2027,” Erasmus added of his coaching roster, which includes assistant coaches Mzwandile Stick, Deon Davids, Daan Human, Tony Brown, Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones, along with Duane Vermeulen (Mobi-Unit), Andy Edwards (Head of Athletic Performance) and Jaco Peyper (Laws and Discipline).
Erasmus said he has had several ‘honest’ conversations with Brown about the latter’s desire to coach the All Blacks.
However, the close ally of All Black coaching frontrunner Jamie Joseph, Brown, has already indicated that he will stay with the Boks till the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
“I had a quick chat with him, after the rumours [about quitting the Boks] surfaced, and he assured me nothing has changed.
“He will see out his current contract.”
Erasmus said they are keen to extend Brown’s contract, making him part of the coaching ticket that will take him to the 2031 World Cup in America.
“I am not sure if New Zealand will make him an offer, or when they will make him an offer.
“However, he won’t be leaving us before 2027.”
The Bok boss added that they have made offers to coaches in ‘critical positions’ in the management team, to ensure they don’t have the distraction of an unsure future.
“There will be performance clauses in their contracts,” he said.
“We want to keep Tony [Brown] past 2027, but he has also been honest and said: ‘I would love to coach the All Blacks’,” Erasmus added.
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