Thorne happy to take the long road
It would be mischievous to suggest former All Blacks captain Reuben Thorne got his job as Canterbury forwards coach because he could recite a special code or execute a secret handshake.
There’s no denying Canterbury, and the Crusaders for that matter, often look within when appointing staff. So when new Canterbury head coach Joe Maddock confirmed Thorne, an old team-mate, would be his offsider for the upcoming Mitre 10 Cup it hardly sparked an unruly debate.
But it would spurious to say Thorne, who played 129 games for the Crusaders and 71 for Canterbury before leaving to play in Japan in 2008, got the job because he knows how Maddock likes his sausages cooked.
Had the 43-year-old, who played 50 tests from 1999-2007, wanted his coaching career to be fast-tracked we may have seen him well before now.
Instead, Thorne elected to take a more modest route. He worked with the High School Old Boys club side in 2011 and 2012, and was also involved in a technical advisory role with Japanese club Honda. He then began his job as Christ College head coach in 2016.
His work with the private school team will continue. ‘‘I will do both,’’ Thorne confirmed. ‘‘We have got plans in place to manage that. It will keep me pretty busy but with the coaching group we have got here, we are pretty confident we can manage that.
‘‘First XV rugby has a got a higher profile these days than it used to have. They are a lot more professional than when I played. It is certainly a good stepping stone to this level.’’
Thorne played under a catalogue of high-profile coaches including Wayne Smith, Robbie Deans, Steve Hansen, John Mitchell and Graham Henry. All influenced his views on the sport.
‘‘You try and plug out the best bits and see what works best for you.’’
He still keeps in touch with Deans, currently in Christchurch and soon to return to Japan where he coaches the Panasonic Wild Knights, and who recently asked him to join a training session at Christ’s College.
A number of former All Blacks from Thorne’s era will coach in the domestic provincial competition, such as Leon MacDonald, Dave Hewett and Derren Witcombe. Tana Umaga, Scott Robertson and Aaron Mauger are in charge of Super Rugby teams.
Maddock said he assessed a large number of candidates before asking Thorne to join himself and assistant backs coach Nathan Mauger for the defence of the Mitre 10 Cup.
‘‘We went through a pretty stringent process,’’ Maddock said. ‘‘I looked through 27 applicants from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England. But at the end of the day Reuben was the standout and for me was the right person to join this environment.’’
As a player Thorne rarely appeared to get too worked up. No doubt he displayed a neutral expression to mask any anxieties, of which there must have been many when things weren’t going well on the field.
He says he knows when he needs to kick off at the players, or when to give the reins some slack: ‘‘You try and read the situation. I can be aggressive and put my foot down if I need to. But I am a guy who likes to collaborate.’’
■ Last night, the Crusaders confirmed that centre Jack Goodhue, who strained a hamstring in the
14-8 victory over the Lions in Johannesburg last weekend, will be forced to miss the next Super Rugby match against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires on Sunday morning (NZT).
Goodhue suffered the injury as he plunged over to score his side’s second try at Ellis Park, and has been told to return to Christchurch. Jone Macilai has travelled to Argentina as a replacement.
Loosehead prop Oli Jager is also returning home after suffering a neck/shoulder injury at training last week.