Leon MacDonald Joins All Blacks Coaching Team as Razor Robertson’s Assistant
Leon MacDonald had options in his rugby coaching future, including an exciting Scotland team that looks to have turned the corner in the international arena. But when push came to shove there was only ever one avenue he wanted to head down for his next move.
The Blues head coach was on Wednesday confirmed as part of Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson’s new All Blacks coaching setup that will officially start work in their new roles on November 1, but in reality will be plotting the post-World Cup future of New Zealand’s finest long before then.
As had been widely anticipated MacDonald comes in alongside Jason Holland (Hurricanes), Scott Hansen (Crusaders) and incumbent national forwards coach Jason Ryan as Robertson’s assistants for the next cycle, with the entire group essentially promoted out of the Super Rugby system.
MacDonald, like Robertson, has been highly successful at the franchise level, and had been strongly linked with the Scotland head coach job expected to be available post-World Cup. But the man who has overseen a dramatic turnaround in fortunes at the Blues since stepping into the role in 2019 told media at franchise headquarters on Thursday it had been a one-horse race in terms of his next step.
And MacDonald had no qualms about the step “backwards” into an assistant’s role which he confirmed went all the way back to 2019 when Robertson first put together his preferred coaching group.
“You’ve got to be really, really ready to be a head coach of the All Blacks,“ he said. “It’s definitely not one to rush into. I think Razor has done his time, he’s ready, he’s got the runs on the board. An assistant’s role suits me. I’m proud of what we’ve done here at the Blues, and this is a nice progression for me.”
MacDonald said he was “confident” stepping into the role running the attack, with support from Holland, and confirmed he also hoped to take on selector’s duties as well.
MacDonald paid tribute to his many rugby influences, from Kieran Keane who kick-started both his playing and coaching careers, to his “friend and mentor” Robbie Deans, who had taught him so much in the special environments that was the Crusaders.
He also confirmed his connections with Holland stretched back a while.
“I’ve rubbed shoulders with Alfie throughout the years. I actually played cricket against him many years ago when he was with Taranaki and I was Marlborough … he’s a great guy who thinks about the game in a similar way to myself.”
Holland was “honoured” to join a group he felt comfortable getting to work with.
“There are some great rugby heads,” he added. “There will be an attitude among those boys that you want to be challenged, and you’re happy to go into somebody else’s area and challenge them. We’ll all have our own ideas and our philosophies are all similar, but we’ll be in a space where we challenge each other.”
Holland, like MacDonald, had no problem heading back to a more specialist role, and said he was invigorated by the prospect of innovating on attack with the best players in New Zealand. “Our ability to be good athletes, beat defenders and use our skill level is massive, no matter how we are going to play. We’ve got to nail that detail down once we finish the Super campaigns and get really aligned around what winning looks like. That’s something Razor is really good at.”
It’s an interesting dynamic for sure. Holland, MacDonald and Robertson will remain heated rivals as they each chase Super Rugby titles to bow out on, before coming together in the name of their country. “We’ve got a Super job to do first,” reflected Holland. “We’ll compete hard the next 7-8 weeks, then the mind will change to really studying the game again.”
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