How All Blacks Sevens success helped Clark Laidlaw ignite Hurricanes

Clark Laidlaw has hit the ground running as Hurricanes coach, having come in from a highly successful stint with the All Blacks Sevens where he won a couple of World Series and a silver medal at the Olympics.

Now, he’s carried that success into Super Rugby Pacific, claiming four straight wins to start the season and placing the Hurricanes at the top of the competition table.

As a Scotsman taking the New Zealand coaching scene by storm, the former Sevens stalwart is bucking a fairly well-entrenched trend. New Zealand frequently has a surplus of rugby minds who end up heading offshore, therefore an import rising to the top of Super Rugby is a rarity.

“You’ve always got a point to prove in professional rugby, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Scotsman or a New Zealander,” Laidlaw told Newstalk ZB.

“I have coached Sevens previously, so at 15s, I guess if I lose I’ll be Scottish and a Sevens coach and if we win I might get a little more grace. But again, I’m quite realistic about people’s perceptions, but I am clear on who I am.

“I am Scottish, I have coached Sevens, but I was also here for three years coaching 15s, coaching Taranaki, Samoa and London Irish. I like to think a range of experiences gives you good experience and stuff to fall back on when times are good or times are hard.

“What people don’t get is Sevens puts you under a lot of pressure. You play six games in a weekend, we’ve (the Hurricanes) only played four and not even through one weekend. So, the stuff that I can teach around intensity of preparation, intensity of opposition, I think is invaluable.

“I loved my time with the Sevens and it set me up really well to transition back to 15.”

Boasting the only unbeaten record left in the competition, the Hurricanes take a slightly undermanned team to Palmerston North this week to play the Rebels.

While Cam Roigard is expected to be absent on All Blacks rest, the team don’t exactly surrender much in quality with TJ Perenara ready to start in the youngster’s place. Jordie Barrett may also miss the contest due to suspension, depending on whether he has taken a coaching intervention course.

Regardless, there is an undeniable, reinvigorated energy within Hurricanes camp, but Laidlaw won’t claim all the credit.

“I think what I’m proud of is the whole group working together. I’m talking staff, coaches, players; a lot of us hadn’t even met three, four months ago. So, that’s been pretty cool to build new relationships, to get to know people, work out how we work well together and maybe don’t work so well.

“So, that’s something I’m really proud of as the whole group, not me personally. But the work that everybody has put into that including the players, the leaders.

“It’s quite exciting because if we can keep everyone together – players and staff – then there’s an opportunity to grow together.”

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