FILE PHOTO: New Zealand All Blacks' Leon MacDonald is caught by England's defence during their international rugby test match at Eden Park in Auckland June 14, 2008. REUTERS/Anthony Phelps/File Photo
(Reuters) -All Blacks assistant coach Leon MacDonald has left the role after being at loggerheads with head coach Scott Robertson over the direction of the team.
MacDonald's departure, confirmed by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) on Thursday, comes ahead of the two-test tour of South Africa and despite the All Blacks winning four out of their five tests in Robertson's first season in charge.
Robertson said the relationship with his attack specialist was not working.
"We've come to a mutual agreement which we feel is the best for the All Blacks moving forward, that he steps away," the 50-year-old told reporters in Christchurch.
"We just feel like it hasn't quite clicked. We just quite haven't lined up where we need to on the rugby side of it.
"(It's) just a little bit of philosophy on rugby, how it was played."
Given the pair's history and MacDonald's four-year contract, the decision may not have been made lightly.
The pair shared changing rooms as Canterbury and New Zealand teammates before reuniting in the coaches box.
A former All Blacks flyhalf and midfielder capped 56 times, MacDonald was one of Robertson's first appointees when he took over the Crusaders after the 2016 season of Super Rugby.
The pair guided the Crusaders to the 2017 title in their first year in charge before MacDonald quit to coach provincial side Tasman, later returning to Super Rugby at the Auckland Blues.
Robertson confirmed MacDonald on his All Blacks staff well before they started their roles after the World Cup in France.
The All Blacks opened the season with two scrappy wins over England before fielding a second-string team which thrashed Fiji 47-5 in San Diego.
Their Rugby Championship title defence started poorly with a 38-30 defeat by Argentina in Wellington but they rebounded with a dominant 42-10 win over the Pumas at Eden Park last weekend.
MacDonald will not be replaced for the rest of the season, with assistant coach Scott Hansen and contact skills coach Tamati Ellison taking on additional responsibilities, NZR said.
New Zealand Rugby confirmed the coaching change in a statement earlier on Thursday which did not include comment from MacDonald.
The governing body's Head of Professional Rugby and Performance Chris Lendrum praised both Robertson and MacDonald for a "brave and decisive call" and said he hoped MacDonald would coach again in New Zealand.
"In this case, they've looked ahead, looked at a four-year period, and have just called it that they don't think they're aligned enough, and that the best interests of the team are served by having a group that clicks a little bit better," he told reporters in Auckland.
The All Blacks face world champions South Africa in Johannesburg on Aug. 31 and in Cape Town a week later.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Peter Rutherford)
