Clayton McMillan’s move to coach offshore can be good for New Zealand rugby - Editorial

Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan will leave for Irish team Munster at the end of the Super Rugby season. Photo / Photosport

Editorial

When Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan heads to Ireland to take up the reins at Munster, he will follow a well-worn path.

Having established their footing as top-flight coaches at home, good Kiwi talent has often looked to overseas roles, either with clubs or other countries, for a chance to develop their philosophies on the game, showcase their talent and – understandably – secure well-paid employment.

These people are not necessarily lost to the New Zealand game. After five years with the Chiefs, McMillan is in the early-intermediate stages of a top-flight rugby coaching career that could yet see him a contender for New Zealand’s top job.

And his time spent offshore could make him a stronger contender.

Plying his trade in Ireland will give McMillan a chance to develop his skills as a coach, learning from the players beneath him and the rival coaches around him.

From 1998 to 2004, the Welsh national side was coached by Graham Henry and Steve Hansen. The pair later combined to historic effect to guide the All Blacks to a drought-breaking Rugby World Cup victory in 2011, with Hansen then grabbing a second.

It was during his time with Wales that Henry developed the pod system that became crucial to the fortunes of the All Blacks. The pods never quite fired for Henry’s Welshmen, where the fitness of the forwards meant the structures required would fade after a handful of phases – but it was a key part of the All Blacks’ success at the 2011 World Cup.

By then – with Henry and his baggage no longer part of the scene – the Welsh were able to make effective use of pods in a campaign that was unlucky to fall short to the French in the semifinals.

Many other Kiwi coaches have shone overseas.

Joe Schmidt’s work with Ireland is legendary and the early signs of improvement in the Wallabies under his watch suggest a positive change of fortunes. In 2021, when Schmidt was brought into the All Blacks setup to work alongside the struggling Ian Foster, the team found a tactical clarity they had lacked and were swiftly on a pathway to the 2023 World Cup final.

Vern Cotter and Jamie Joseph could both be deemed to have broadened their coaching skills with time spent offshore. The Blues and the Highlanders are richer for their experience.

Critics will point to the limitations of Warren Gatland’s tactical approach in his most recent stint with Wales, but the Waikato man’s first stint in Cardiff, in 2007, was a remarkable success. Earlier, he had set Ireland on a pathway to improvement and he is rightly regarded as one of the all-time great Lions coaches.

Despite this offshore success, Gatland’s intermittent forays into coaching New Zealand sides (Waikato and the Chiefs) seldom brought a fluency of play or consistent results.

New Zealand Rugby should have a plan and a pathway to reintegrate these coaches into our systems. What riches could Tony Brown bring back to our game from his time spent at the side of Rassie Erasmus?

Our national sport suffers if we allow ourselves to believe that our way of playing the game is the only way to do it.

Few All Blacks have any experience of playing for overseas teams. Players who can negotiate a break from their contracts to spend a season in Japan or Europe tend to be veterans — they will learn from their time abroad, but the fundamentals of their game have already been hardwired into them from a young age.

This means that bringing Kiwi coaches back to these shores to be involved at all levels of rugby is the best way to bring fresh thinking and approaches into our system.

When McMillan returns, he — and our national game — can be better for it.

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