All Blacks coach Leon MacDonald quits after just five Tests over fallout with Scott Robertson

Highly-rated assistant resigns days before daunting South Africa tour as head coach cites disagreements on ‘the philosophy of rugby’

Leon Macdonald has left his role as New Zealand assistant coach, just five games into Scott Robertson’s new regime and on the verge of a daunting tour of South Africa.
In an extraordinary press call to address the bombshell development on Thursday, as his squad prepared to fly out to face the Springboks, Robertson admitted to a clash of coaching styles that had been undermining the All Blacks.
Macdonald, who won 56 caps for New Zealand, chiefly as a full-back, had previously overseen the Blues, leading the Auckland-based franchise to the Super Rugby Trans Tasman title in 2021. Attack had been his remit on the All Blacks staff, which he joined following last year’s World Cup.
“Leon and I have been having some honest conversations with each other for a little while now,” explained Robertson, the New Zealand head coach.
“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.”
Without pinpointing a definitive source of disagreement between himself and Macdonald, Robertson alluded to divisions on “the philosophy of rugby” and conceded that “we just didn’t quite click on different aspects.”
Robertson’s tenure began with two narrow wins over England before a 47-5 thrashing of Fiji in San Diego. However, the Rugby Championship campaign would begin in defeat as Argentina landed a 38-30 victory in Wellington.
New Zealand bounced back to topple the Pumas at Eden Park, delivering the most convincing performance of the year to date in a 42-10 triumph, yet the departure of Macdonald was confirmed to the players on Thursday morning.
He will not be replaced immediately. Instead, Scott Hansen and Tamati Ellison will assume extra responsibilities. Jason Holland is another capable coach on the backroom team looking after the backs.
As Robertson explained to the Telegraph earlier this year, Macdonald had also been a key voice in selection of New Zealand’s wings and full-backs. Those positions in the All Blacks side, and indeed across the backline as a whole, have not seemed completely clear over the past two months.
Sevu Reece and Mark Tele’a started the Argentina loss on Aug 10, with Caleb Clarke and Will Jordan usurping them on the wings a week later. Anton Lienert-Brown and Rieko Ioane have also shared the outside centre berth.
Chris Lendrum, New Zealand Rugby’s general manager of professional rugby and performance, suggested that Robertson and Macdonald, two former Crusaders and All Blacks teammates, should be commended for what has been described as a mutual decision to part ways.
“I appreciate it’s probably sudden news, and probably seems out of the norm,” Lendrum said.
“As you’d expect, they’ve been really honest conversations. You’ve got two high-quality, winning coaches, two former All Blacks that care passionately about the team, and what’s best for the team.
“Where they’ve got to is that they haven’t really clicked as coaches together… they’ve made a brave and decisive call to part ways now. Leon has made the decision to exit the All Blacks as a result.
“Obviously, he goes with our best wishes, he’s a superb coach. He’s obviously given a lot to coaching before the All Blacks, most recently with the Blues and the All Blacks XV. There’s a lot of respect and affection for him here.”
New Zealand face South Africa in back-to-back away matches, first in Johannesburg on Aug 31 before a second fixture in Cape Town on Sep 7. Ironically, they will take on Tony Brown, the innovative Kiwi attack guru now with the Springboks, on that trip, which will see the 2023 World Cup finalists renew a famous rivalry.
The All Blacks’ Rugby Championship concludes with the Bledisloe Cup, comprising a double-header against Australia between Sep 21-28, in Sydney then Wellington.
Five more Tests complete the year as New Zealand travel to Japan before embarking on a European tour. They have a rendezvous England on Nov 2 and are then hosted by Ireland, France and Italy.
Macdonald, meanwhile, is sure to be a man in demand around the globe. In 2023, prior to agreeing terms with the All Blacks, he was linked with the role of Scotland head coach and was reportedly sounded out about a senior position at Leinster.