Victor Matfield has sounded a warning over Jamie Joseph after claiming that his Japan stint did not end on the best terms.<\/b><\/p>\n
The 56-year-old is the favourite to land the vacant All Blacks head coach\u2019s position after Scott Robertson departed from the role last week.<\/p>\n
Joseph is currently in charge of the Highlanders and also guided the second-string All Blacks XV on their tour to the northern hemisphere in November last year.<\/p>\n
Before that, he led Japan<\/a> between 2016 and 2023 and took them to a landmark quarter-final at their home tournament in 2019.<\/p>\n His tenure ended following an underwhelming performance at the 2023 World Cup but, despite that group stage elimination, Joseph has plenty of supporters in New Zealand.<\/p>\n All Blacks legend\u2019s support for Joseph<\/p>\n Sir John Kirwan is one of those, and the former wing would be happy with either him or Joe Schmidt in the All Blacks<\/a> hotseat.<\/p>\n \u201cI really think it\u2019s down to Jamie Joseph and possibly Joe Schmidt, although I don\u2019t know what Joe Schmidt\u2019s contractual obligations are to Australia,\u201d Kirwan told the Rivals<\/a> podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cI really like Jamie, I think Jamie is a really top coach. What he\u2019s done is be able to actually take sides that are the underdogs and have incredible success.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s not say: \u2018Ah, he went and coached Japan\u2019, what he did with Japan was amazing. Making the play-offs of the World Cup was amazing.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we think about a coaching team, we know that Tony Brown is one of the best attack coaches in the world and he is a Kiwi. I love that combination.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Jamie could do it without Browny if Browny wants to stay in South Africa, so for me it\u2019s between Jamie Joseph and Joe Schmidt.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be really cool if they could both do it. I would love to see Jamie as a head coach and Joe come on as one of his assistants.\u201d<\/p>\n Loose Pass: Unpacking Scott Robertson\u2019s \u2018sudden\u2019 All Blacks exit and why the next move is \u2018all or nothing\u2019 for New Zealand Rugby<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Matfield, who was the Springboks\u2019<\/a> record cap holder before being overtaken by Eben Etzebeth, then gave his view on the possible All Blacks options.<\/p>\n The 48-year-old has worked with a number of the Japanese players that featured under Joseph, having joined Eddie Jones\u2019 coaching staff as an advisor and he gave an insight into the end of that tenure.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing I must say is from the Japanese players, they weren\u2019t too happy with Jamie Joseph at the end. Why that is, it sounded like he was very strict and very set in his ways,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he understands the New Zealand culture. He played, he looks like a rugby man so it will be interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n