Chiefs boss confident coaching setup will work
Clayton McMillan has been in constant contact with Warren Gatland during his time as interim Chiefs coach and says despite the team’s sudden surge of success, the franchise will be all the better for Gatland’s return,
Thanks to the Chiefs dramatically turning their fortunes around with four Super Rugby Aotearoa wins on the trot, the big elephant in the room, which always had the potential to rear its head, has rather now stormed through the front door.
In January, even before a ball was kicked in his maiden Super Rugby gig, McMillan re-signed with the franchise as an assistant for 2022 and 2023. That always made for a possible awkward look if the team went well but then he got ‘demoted’ when Gatland, following his miserable winless 2020 SRA campaign, came back for his final two years in charge.
But, ahead of his side’s crunch clash against the Hurricanes in Hamilton tonight, McMillan revealed Gatland hadn’t exactly dumped and ran, and felt compelled to issue an unwavering commitment to the job he is listed for for the two years ahead.
‘‘We touch base after most games,’’ McMillan said of his contact with Gatland. ‘‘He’s obviously busy up in the UK, but he’s taken a really active interest in what’s going on here.
‘‘I want to take this opportunity . . . I know a lot’s been written in the media about the team going well and Gats being away, [but]
our team is only going to be better for that man being involved with this environment.
‘‘I always knew coming into this that it was going to be an interim role if Gats is coming back. And one of the real attractions for me was to work alongside a man of that level of experience. And absolutely nothing has changed.’’
One of McMillan’s big attributes
has been his ability to band together a squad low on confidence and instil belief. Captain Brad Weber said he ‘‘gets the balance right’’ in the vibe he sets.
There are other differences between the pair which makes Chiefs chief executive Michael Collins look forward to them working together.
‘‘I actually think their strengths complement each other really really well,’’ he told Stuff. ‘‘Warren Gatland is a world-class coach . . . his rugby IP is pretty incredible.
‘‘And some of the changes he brought in here around the way we prepared, the way we train, last year were good. Obviously we didn’t get the results and people will judge us on that and that’s what people do, so we’ll take that on the chin.
‘‘But then you look at Clayton, he’s scrapped his way up. He’s got a really deep understanding of the talent pool around the players, support staff, in this region. And being raised in Rotorua, he’s got a real affinity for tikanga Ma¯ ori, speaks fluent te reo, and, culturally, he is a real good fit for the Chiefs.’’
Collins said he is getting stopped in the street by ‘‘every third or fourth person’’ wanting to tell him their views on the coaching situation. But for him, there is no reason to feel that what they have in place won’t work well.