Former All Black MacDonald to join Crusaders coaching staff

McDonald will link up with new head coach Scott Robertson at the end of New Zealand's provincial rugby competition in October. He is the current head coach of Tasman and will continue in that role in 2017, the Crusaders added.

"Leon and I know each other well, having played together for many years and coached together with the NZ Under 20 team," Robertson said in a statement.

"We already know how each other operates and we know that we can work well together, so this appointment will really help us to achieve a smooth transition to the new coaching team in 2017."

A schoolboy prodigy, MacDonald played for his hometown provincial side Marlborough as a teenager in 1994 before stepping up to Super Rugby with the Crusaders in 1997.

Ordinarily a flyhalf or midfield back, MacDonald found himself down the pecking order at the Crusaders and played just seven matches for the team before moving to the Waikato Chiefs the following year.

He returned to the Crusaders in 1999 and also had two spells in Japan, but was blighted by concussions later in his career and retired in 2010.

MacDonald played 56 tests for the All Blacks from 2000-08 before moving into coaching ranks in 2010 with Tasman, an amalgamation of the Marlborough and neighbouring Nelson Bays provincial unions.

"This is an exciting step forward in my coaching career and I can't wait to be involved in Super Rugby again," MacDonald said of the two-year contract.

"It is also awesome to be able to continue working with Tasman and I believe that this new role will put me in a strong position to continue developing talent at that union."