20 JOHN PLUMTREE TAKES OVER AT HURRICANES
The outcome made perfect sense but the process didn’t when the Hurricanes announced that assistant coach John Plumtree would be taking over as head coach in 2019.
It was an open secret that he and head coach Chris Boyd had agreed a succession plan some years beforehand – that Boyd would do three years at the helm and then make-way for Plumtree to take over.
But when Boyd revealed – before the announcement of Plumtree taking over – that he was leaving for Northampton, he suggested it wasn’t by choice.
Boyd gave the impression that he was heading to England because he’d been unable to extend his contract with the Hurricanes.
The picture certainly became confused for the remainder of the season as it felt like Boyd was on the outer of his own coaching team.