How Tony Brown unlocked Boks’ arsenal without losing their edge

Opinion was divided when Rassie Erasmus appointed Tony Brown as the Springbok attack coach in 2024.

At the time, those in the know hailed the appointment as a coup for a team looking to evolve and move with the trends.

Meanwhile, some traditionalists questioned the recruitment of a New Zealander and suggested that Brown would lead SA away from their set-piece and kicking strengths – and depower one of rugby’s great nations from within.

The Bok players weighed in on the appointment in the lead-up to the first home series against Ireland in July 2024. There was an air of excitement, as the scrumhalves and flyhalves – the team’s game drivers and chief decision-makers – praised Brown for encouraging them to look at the game in a different way.

Even then, there was a lot of chat about looking for the space and taking bolder decisions with ball in hand, and after winning consecutive World Cup titles via a pragmatic style of play, the Boks appeared to be striking out in a more adventurous direction.

Fast forward to the present, where the Boks have made good on their promise to harness all of their strengths to become the best and most consistent team in the world.

Since the start of the 2024 season, the Boks have won 23 out of 27 Tests, a run that has included back-to-back Rugby Championship titles and an unbeaten streak in Europe.

Last year, they broke their own attacking records for tries (81) and points (572) scored in a single season, and retained their position at the top of the World Rugby rankings.

How about their traditional strengths?

Their scrum remains a weapon, as witnessed in Tests against the All Blacks and Ireland last year, where the opposition was shunted backward at a rate of knots. Their kicking game has evolved to complement their attack, and no team is better at winning the ball back in the air.

While the 2026 Six Nations has showcased improvements by the likes of France, the Boks are planning to take things forward in the coming months in an attempt to retain their crown and build for the 2027 World Cup.

All-round threat

Earlier this week, Erasmus and his lieutenants spoke about the Boks’ plans for the 2026 season at a wide-ranging media session at the SA Rugby HQ in Cape Town.

South Africa’s 14-game schedule includes a marquee fixture against England in Johannesburg on 4 July, a four-Test series against the All Blacks over August and September, as well as the inaugural Nations Championship, which will conclude with another four-game stretch in Europe in November.

Over the course of a marathon session in which 12 different coaches and administrators held court, the message about evolution and the quest for further success was rammed home.

Given all that’s transpired in recent seasons, Brown’s verdict felt particularly important. The attack coach has been at the heart of the team’s transformation, and will continue to drive the players forward until the end of the 2027 World Cup.

“The evolution of the South African game is how we combine our attack, defence, set piece and kicking game, and try to put teams under massive pressure. That’s probably been the evolution,” Brown said.

“The players have enjoyed it; they’ve got better at it and are starting to understand how it all fits together. No other team can look at the Boks and say ‘if we shut them down here, we’re going to win the Test’. We’ve got so many layers to our game now.

“We can win with defence, the scrum, the maul, the kicking game, the counter-attack... we’re a lot more dangerous now, and it’s exciting to see where we can push it over the next 12 months or so.”

Advice for Sacha

When it was put to Brown that he’d up-skilled the players over the past two years, he said that the biggest shift has been mental rather than physical.

“South African players have always had the skill set, it’s just been about getting more comfortable in attacking situations,” said the former All Blacks flyhalf, who has also enjoyed successful coaching stints in New Zealand and Japan.

“You’re not actually doing it by yourself, you’re doing it with the other 14 players on the field. You’re playing the game together, and that’s something I’ve always driven. Ultimately that’s what New Zealand players are doing, working with those around them.

“I think we’ve seen the Bok players getting a lot more comfortable in those situations as well, and their natural skill sets are coming out. There are players here who are as skilful as any I’ve ever coached.”

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who started at No 10 in many of the Boks’ victories last season, immediately comes to mind. The flyhalf hasn’t been at his best for the Stormers in recent weeks, and Brown argued that the player, as well as the Cape team, were guilty of overplaying.

“In the Bok environment, we try to get every player to do their job, and that makes it easier for him. Now the Stormers are in a slump [having lost three consecutive matches], and I would say he should use the other players around him more and not try do everything himself.”

When Brown was asked by Daily Maverick how the Boks can take things further in 2026, and indeed, whether it was possible to surpass the attacking standards set in 2025, he insisted that the main thing will remain the main thing.

“We played some great rugby last year, but were by no means perfect,” he said, referring to the poor performance against Australia in Johannesburg as well as the gutting loss to New Zealand in Auckland.

“There were a couple Tests where we didn’t get things right, and that cost us.

“I’ve always said we’re good enough to win every game, and every game we should be trying to win. So that’s our goal, to be undefeated every time we play.” DM