New Highlanders coach not feeling pressure
If Aaron Mauger’s under the cosh and feels he has a point to prove ahead of his first match in charge of the Highlanders, he’s adept at masking it.
‘‘Pressure’s for pumping tyres,’’ the 37-year-old head coach told Stuff ahead of Friday night’s season-opening match against the Blues in Dunedin.
Mauger, who still appears to be in good enough shape to lace up the boots, wasn’t necessarily everybody’s preferred appointment when the Highlanders named him as Tony Brown’s replacement last August.
It wasn’t just that he was Christchurch-born and bred and played for Canterbury and the Crusaders, there were also murmurs from the south questioning his coaching ability.
Most pointed to his departure from Leicester last March, when he was sent packing two years into a three-year contract, while others took aim at his stint as Crusaders assistant (attack) coach between 2013-15, a period when the franchise’s backs were criticised for being too lateral.
While results will be the real measuring stick, much of the talk around the franchise in the lead up to the 2018 season has been how seamlessly Mauger has slotted into the job which was practically handed to him after a discussion with chief executive Roger Clark and fellow candidate Mark Hammett.
‘‘Coming back to the Highlanders has been awesome. I spoke to Roger before I made the decision and did a little bit of research on the Highlanders’ environment and the people involved and it was a bit of nobrainer, at the end of the day,’’ Mauger said.
‘‘Everything the Highlanders are about, and what they stand for, is very similar to my values and the environment I wanted to be a part of and wanted to lead . . . it’s been a pretty easy transition.’’
Mauger, who retired in 2010 due to a back injury, started coaching with Christchurch club High School Old Boys, before nabbing an assistant coaching role with Canterbury and kicking on to the Crusaders and Leicester.
The former All Black midfielder said being in charge of the Highlanders was a ‘‘privilege’’, and said his experience at Leicester, despite the unsavoury finish, made him a better coach.
‘‘No, not at all,’’ Mauger said when asked if he had prematurely taken up an overseas head coaching gig. ‘‘It’s probably one of the best learning experiences that I’ve had. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a bad experience over there, I sort of see it as a good experience. I still feel like we managed to achieve a lot of things we set out to achieve over there.
‘‘They just decided I wasn’t the right man for the job, I didn’t quite align where the club wanted to go and, in hindsight, they were probably right. I’m in a better place now and enjoying it.’’
He credits a string of mentors, coaches and players for shaping him, but it’s older brother Nathan, 39, now an assistant coach with
Canterbury, who takes pole position.
Mauger idolised his big brother as they climbed through the ranks at Christchurch Boys’ High School, and the pair still regularly speak. ‘‘He sort of paved the way for me and he was a great role model, he was always making teams a couple of years before me, so anything he achieved it was a good aspiration for me to try and do that as well.
‘‘He probably showed that those things were possible. I owe a lot to him, we’re pretty tight and we share a lot of our learnings around the game,’’ Mauger said.
Another Mauger keeps in contact with is former All Blacks midfield partner and current Blues coach Tana Umaga, who he spent much time learning to play guitar with while on tour with the national side.
Umaga spent a week with Mauger and his family while he was still in Leicester, and the later was full of praise for the former All Black captain. ‘‘His approach to the Blues has really helped turn them around a little bit, and he’s given them a solid foundation to really sit on and launch. Hopefully it’s not so solid this weekend.’’