Assistant coach Leon MacDonald departs All Blacks over differences with Scott Robertson

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 team-mates before reuniting in the coaches box.

A former All Blacks fly-half 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 national team staff well before they started their roles after the World Cup in France.

New Zealand 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