MacDonald joins Blues as coach

The last time the Blues won Super Rugby, Leon MacDonald was playing fullback – for the opposition.

That was 2003, when the Blues pipped the Crusaders in the decider at Eden Park. Fifteen years on, he has just become the latest in a long line of coaches tasked with getting the Aucklandbased franchise back to the top.

MacDonald has signed on for three years as an assistant, starting in 2019, the first of which will be under head coach Tana Umaga, who has been given a one-year extension, despite the Blues sitting last in the New Zealand conference with three wins in 11 matches this season.

The Blues and Crusaders formed Super Rugby’s first major rivalry, though that has changed in recent years, with the Aucklanders becoming increasingly irrelevant, missing the playoffs in 12 of the 14 completed seasons since their 2003 triumph, including each of the last seven.

That made it a little bit odd to see MacDonald at Blues HQ, wearing their logo on his chest, though that is part and parcel of the modern game.

He said that as a Crusader, he could remember the successful Blues teams well, and was looking forward to the challenge of helping make them winners once again.

‘‘The Blues teams that we encountered were physical and they were abrasive and they were nearly impossible to beat at home,’’ MacDonald said.

‘‘I’ve seen what the Blues can be like and it’s fresh in my memory, so to be sitting inside this room is a little bit surreal to a degree.

‘‘I can’t wait to be involved in coaching a team at Eden Park as the home ground.’’