KEY POINTS:
New Zealanders plotting to overthrow the All Blacks. At one stage it was heresy but in the last decade, certainly, it has become an accepted part of the professional rugby coaching landscape.
Former Otago and All Black loose forward Mike Brewer is the latest to look at rugby
life from the other side of the sporting fence in his new role as the technical force behind Scotland's forwards.
Brewer was as staunch an All Black as there ever was, a rangy, skilled loose forward whose leadership and tactical grasp on the game were other major weapons in his kit locker. His body never co-operated fully, though, and he played in an era of mega-competition from others such as Alan Whetton, Michael Jones, Zinzan Brooke, Wayne Shelford, Kevin Schuler, Andy Earl, Paul Henderson, Rob Gordon, Jamie Joseph and co.
He was old-school if you like, brought up in the tough, grinding folklore and demands of southern rugby, coached by taskmasters like Grizz Wyllie and Laurie Mains, and someone who was part of the All Blacks when they careered through 23 tests without defeat and a stretch of 50 games before defeat against Australia in 1990.
Controversy accompanied him for chunks of his career, such as his alleged part in the captaincy overthrow of Shelford, the decision to pull him from the 1991 World Cup when he failed a medical on his foot injury and his detour from the sponsorship circuit to play at Twickenham in 1993.
Brewer was always tipped to make some sort of impact on the New Zealand coaching scene but after ending his playing career in the World Cup food poisoning final in 1995, he hightailed it to the UK, where he has accrued and dispensed his coaching knowledge ever since.
A few All Blacks like Gary Whetton - in 1992 for the World XV - have played against their old team but it has been far more commonplace for those coaching to find themselves in opposition. Just on this tour, Robbie Deans, Brewer and Warren Gatland will be involved in plotting the overthrow of their old side.
Graham Henry and Steve Hansen worked for Wales against the All Blacks, Wyllie helped with Argentina, John Mitchell with England and so on.
The foundation for Brewer's rugby knowledge was set during his time in Otago where he absorbed all the technical and emotional principles of forward play. If he has continued to build on that base in his gypsy coaching career in the UK, he can help Scotland. He will expect players to be fit for work and will challenge them to bring their own ideas to the squad instead of expecting to be spoon-fed.
Scotland is looking for some sort of magic bullet to help them out of a bit of a playing and spectator trough. While it is unlikely they will overturn the All Blacks this time, a strong showing may just be enough to persuade the crowds to return and the All Blacks to visit again next year.
