McMillan keen to stick with Chiefs
Incoming Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan is hoping to commit to the franchise beyond his one season in Warren Gatland’s hot seat.
McMillan will lead the Chiefs in 2021, with Gatland on his sabbatical with the British and Irish Lions, and pre-season starts on January 7, two months before their Super Rugby Aotearoa opener against the Highlanders in Hamilton.
Gatland is contracted to return as coach for 2022 and 2023 and that leaves the Chiefs in a potentially awkward position if McMillan is a roaring success in his first job as a head coach in Super Rugby.
The long-time Bay of Plenty coach was confirmed as Gatland’s one-year replacement in February, before Covid-19 shut down Super Rugby.
The Chiefs had an awful season under Gatland when it resumed, losing all eight matches in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
McMillan has been balancing three jobs throughout the season, including being the coach of the Ma¯ ori All Blacks, who take on Moana Pasifika in Hamilton tonight, and he can focus solely on the Chiefs after this weekend.
The ex-Bay of Plenty loose forward has not yet decided whether he will continue with the Ma¯ori All Blacks, and said he could become an assistant with the Chiefs when Gatland returns for 2022.
‘‘That would give me the opportunity to continue with this team [the Ma¯ori All Blacks],’’ McMillan said. ‘‘It’s certainly something I’m keen to do, but not without getting through half a campaign [with the Chiefs] and experience what the rigours of Super Rugby are all about. I can then make an informed decision.’’
McMillan, speaking at Thursday’s Ma¯ ori All Blacks training and changing into a Chiefs polo for his first official engagement as coach, confirmed the quartet of Roger Randle, David Hill, Neil Barnes and Nick White had been retained as assistants for next year, a coaching group he is ‘‘really happy with’’.
He shadowed Gatland and the coaches throughout their difficult season but doesn’t want to change much of the Chiefs’ ‘‘identity’’, he said, after being in the background while preparing for Bay of Plenty’s Mitre 10 Cup campaign.
‘‘For the Chiefs, they’ve had a really strong identity of being relentless, working really hard for each other, and pulling the trigger, and by that, I mean being a team that are willing to chance their arm when other teams are probably less likely to,’’ McMillan said.
‘‘They’re also pretty brutal. I don’t think anybody likes playing the Chiefs, particularly at home. You know that you’re not going to get anything for free. I want to be a part of a team that lives that identity.’’
The Steamers impressively made the premiership semifinals and McMillan was also finalising the Chiefs’ 2021 squad, announced on Thursday, and said it was a ‘‘real rat race’’.
McMillan said they would decide on All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick’s involvement with the Chiefs next year, closer to his scheduled return in May.
‘‘I am the interim coach and I’ve got my own ideas about how things will operate, but I also had the fortune to be in the Chiefs’ environment for a decent portion of Super Rugby Aotearoa,’’ he added.
‘‘I could see there was lots of good stuff going on, so it’s not about reinventing the wheel.’’ Keeping Gatland’s seat warm, McMillan is one good season away from becoming part of the furniture.