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Jason Pine: Not everything you try on is going to fit

Author
Jason Pine,
Publish Date
Sat, 24 Aug 2024, 3:59pm
Leon MacDonald (right) has left his post as All Blacks assistant coach. Photo / Photosport
Leon MacDonald (right) has left his post as All Blacks assistant coach. Photo / Photosport

Jason Pine: Not everything you try on is going to fit

Author
Jason Pine,
Publish Date
Sat, 24 Aug 2024, 3:59pm

There was a lot of hyperbole when the news of Leon MacDonald's departure broke. 

"The news sending shockwaves around the rugby world." 

The All Blacks were supposedly in turmoil, in chaos, in crisis, in disarray. 

But that's not true, is it? Yes, it's unexpected. It's certainly big news, but when you peel it all back, it's one of a number of assistant coaches in the All Blacks set-up departing. 

He's not the head coach, he hasn't been sacked, this isn't performance based.  

There's nothing improper here. It's just two guys who are passionate about the game of rugby in passionate disagreement on how the most iconic team on the planet should be playing to win test matches. 

Sport is all about opinions – my radio show exists largely because of them. 

There's no one right way, otherwise everyone would be doing the same thing. 

The best thing that happened out of this whole thing was how quickly this was done. If something's not clicking and not working, with no sign the gap can be bridged, why pretend? It's best for everyone to move on in separate directions. 

I think it's a very courageous decision by both men, especially Leon MacDonald. He could easily have toed the line, gone against his rugby beliefs and carried on in a job he was unhappy in. 

Instead, he trusted his instincts and stuck to his convictions. 

That means he's not part of the All Blacks coaching group anymore. This seemingly dream job that turned out to not be what he hoped or expected. 

He would have gone into this, both he and Razor would have, with the best of intentions, but sometimes things don't work out. 

One of my favourite sayings is "fail quickly". And that's actually the wrong phrase, because there's no failure here, but I think you'll get my drift. 

Find out quickly and move on, because not everything you try on is going to fit. 

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