Brown: Flannery’s Irish insight invaluable for the Boks

New South Africa attack coach Tony Brown believes Jerry Flannery’s insights on Ireland could have a major impact on the upcoming Test series between the sides.

Flannery (defence) and Brown (attack) are the two new coaches on the scene with the world champions, following Jacques Nienaber’s move to Leinster, and Felix Jones’ switch to England.

The former All Black was part of the Japan coaching team that defeated Ireland at the 2019 World Cup, while Flannery previously worked under Erasmus when the South African was in charge of Munster.

New Zealander Brown says he’s already impressed with what he’s seen from his fellow new arrival.

“He’s my roommate, that’s been interesting,” Brown said of Flannery, joking that he’s become the former Ireland hooker’s ‘wife’ in the last eight weeks.

“What I have noticed is that he is a fantastic coach. He coaches the game very well and he coaches it with some real intensity, which is ideal for a defence coach.

“Yes, he knows a lot about Ireland. I can’t tell you what he has been telling the boys but he’s definitely got an insight into their mentality and mindset.”

Brown, who played Super Rugby for both the Sharks and Stormers at the tail end of his career, says the prospect of taking on Ireland this summer had a big say in his decision to link up with Rassie Erasmus’ side.

“The biggest thing really is probably going to be this weekend. As a rugby player you want to play in the biggest matches.

“I have always wanted to be a rugby coach and I wanted to coach in the biggest matches, this weekend is a huge occasion, Loftus [Versfeld] is very intimidating, an amazing ground to play at, to be at, and Ireland obviously one of the better teams in the world. So it is going to be a great challenge and I just want to be involved, coaching South Africa against the best teams.

“Ireland have been playing some good rugby for a number of years now and South Africa have won the last two World Cups.

“Ireland probably feels that they should have got more out of their World Cups. So it’s created this ‘who is number one in the world?’ I guess both teams think that and it has created a bit of media stuff.

“It is good for you guys [the media]. Get some ex-players to throw a few shots at each country, it adds a bit of entertainment leading up to what is going to be a massive Test match,” he added of this Saturday’s first Test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

The world champions did get to blow off the cobwebs in a 41-13 win against Wales just over a week ago, in what was their first game since the World Cup. By contrast, Ireland have a full Six Nations campaign behind them.

The relatively straightforward win against a limited Welsh side was an ideal tune-up game as they got to test out some new players and go through the gears, even if they did look slightly rusty against Warren Gatland’s side.

“The players have been amazing, we haven’t had everyone for a long period of time but everyone has got into camp and we had a full squad last week. So getting them to understand what we can create and what we can do if we get things right has been awesome and the players have really bought into what we are trying to do.

“I guess that I am the attack coach, so I want them to be the best attacking players in the world.

“I think against Wales we did some amazing things, we scored some pretty good tries. The boys, in working on their skill-sets have been outstanding at seeing those pictures and being able to execute under pressure. Like anything in a game of rugby if you pushing the players to be better all the time, there are going to be mistakes, but over time we are hoping to negate the mistakes and have better execution, better decision making.”

And the former Highlanders coach has a warning for anyone who thinks the Springboks are going to fall victim to complacency.

“I think short term we want to attack a lot better than we have previously.

“My job is to create a style of game that these boys can play really, really well.

“The game changes so fast and my job is to try and find a competitive edge that keeps the Springboks at the top of the world.

“In four years’ time, the goal 100% is to win three World Cups in a row,” he added.