Hats off to the masterminds Boyd and Plumtree
Players win matches, no doubt. But coaches mastermind championships.
So, as the Hurricanes progress to their second straight Super Rugby final, at the Cake Tin next Saturday night, it’s time, surely, to tip our hats to Chris Boyd and John Plumtree who don’t get the ink of, say, a Dave Rennie, but are compiling quite some record with this group.
Yes, Beauden Barrett and Ardie Savea have provided the brilliance, but how about some long overdue recognition of the resilience that Boyd and his chief sidekick Plumtree have brought to the Hurricanes.
Their record, for starters, is phenomenal since they took the reins last season of a franchise not often noted for its consistency.
In 2015 the Canes won 15 matches and lost just three as they were pipped at the post by the Highlanders. This year they’ve prevailed in 13 of their 17 games, and are once again 80 minutes from their first championship.
That’s a record that says a lot about the coaching of this odd couple of Boyd and Plumtree. Little and large. Cruisy and intense. Chalk and cheese.
But together they have provided the framework for a Hurricanes side that has taken the final step from pretenders to contenders.
Their coolly clinical, tactically smart, well-executed semifinal dismantling of a quality Chiefs outfit on Saturday night was hugely impressive. But that dazzling line speed that so unsettled the Chiefs (and kept them tryless) was all about a well coached outfit with an The coolly clinical, tactically smart dismantling of a quality Chiefs outfit was hugely impressive. excellent game plan and to deliver it.
This Hurricanes side has some big-time performers, for sure. None mightier than Barrett and Savea who have the rare ability to marry their vast natural talents with the prosaic necessities of this gladiatorial game they play.
They were both magnificent. But arguably even better was the collective effort that shut out the dangerous Chiefs and so dramatically knocked them off their stride. the discipline
Where were the great entertainers and lethal finishers of Cape Town? Nowhere to be seen thanks to the excellent blueprint afforded them by their coaches.
Hurricanes teams of days gone by have often had talent of similar ability. Some maybe even finer. Think Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu, Tana Umaga, Pita Alatini, Jerry Collins, Rodney So’oialo and Chris Masoe, and more recently the likes of Piri Weepu, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Neemia Tialata.
But getting them to deliver the performances on a consistent basis has been the difficult part.
No longer. All that remains is for Boyd and Plumtree to inspire one more effort of a similar ilk next Saturday and they will have the championship to endorse their work.
It would be richly deserved.