Leon MacDonald’s sudden departure from the All Blacks coaching staff is the latest hit to New Zealand Rugby’s coffers from undisclosed payouts in recent years. 

Five tests into this season, MacDonald left his post as All Blacks attack coach last week due to unresolvable differences with head coach Scott Robertson. 

The Herald understands MacDonald, the former Blues head coach and Crusaders assistant, was contracted as Robertson’s All Blacks assistant for four years, through to the 2027 World Cup. 

His exit, fewer than two months after the opening test of Robertson’s tenure, is therefore expected to involve another costly six-figure payout for New Zealand Rugby. 

Details of MacDonald’s severance package remain confidential, but multiple sources have indicated to the Herald that New Zealand Rugby will be forced to pay out close to two years of his previously agreed contract term. 

The salaries of All Blacks assistants differ depending on experience and responsibilities but some are believed to range between $500,000 to $700,000 per year. 

New Zealand Super Rugby Pacific head coaching salaries vary, too, but some are understood to earn around $350,000 per season. 

Two years ago, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) were forced into similarly costly payouts during Ian Foster’s four-year All Blacks tenure. 

At the end of the 2021 season, NZR re-signed All Blacks assistant coaches John Plumtree and Brad Mooar for a further two years, despite major concerns voiced by the players. 

Six months later, Plumtree and Mooar’s contracts were terminated following the first home series loss to Ireland, with forwards coach Jason Ryan and Joe Schmidt parachuted in as replacements through to the 2023 World Cup. 

While those payouts are also confidential, All Blacks coaching compensation paid by NZR to Plumtree, Mooar and MacDonald in recent years is likely to extend past the million-dollar mark. 

In 2020, when Mooar was first recruited to join Foster, he was six months into a three-year deal as head coach of Scarlets, which required NZR to negotiate another significant payout to prise him from the Welsh club. 

With 10 coaches (23 management staff) on their books, the All Blacks are not expected to replace MacDonald this year. Scott Hansen has instead assumed responsibility for the team attack while Tamati Ellison is promoted to run the defence as the All Blacks prepare for this weekend’s Rugby Championship test against the Springboks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. 

Beyond this year, after a series of coaching payouts and at a time when cutbacks are proposed elsewhere in the game, NZR will need to be discerning about whether they can afford to replace MacDonald in the All Blacks. 

MacDonald will be in no rush to determine his future but his next coaching post appears likely to come aboard. 

A restraint of trade preventing MacDonald from working with another international team is unlikely but there is a possibility his severance package is tied to his next coaching post. 

Should MacDonald join another test nation he would increase New Zealand Rugby’s scattered intellectual property that includes Joe Schmidt and Mike Cron at the Wallabies, Tony Brown (Springboks), Andrew Goodman (Ireland) and Andrew Strawbridge (England). 

As a Crusaders alumnus and a member of their Hall of Fame, MacDonald could be viewed as a candidate to succeed Rob Penney following the 2025 Super Rugby season. That avenue would, however, involve forming an awkward working relationship with Robertson around national issues such as player load management, and switching allegiance following his five-year tenure as Blues head coach. 

The Crusaders earmarked Ellison as a potential future head coach and while, at this stage, he is expected to return to the franchise to assist Penney next year, his fulltime elevation to the All Blacks could alter those short- and longer-term plans. 

Liam Napier has been a sports journalist since 2010, and his work has taken him to World Cups in rugby, netball and cricket, boxing world title fights and Commonwealth Games. 

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