Former Chiefs boss responds to question about All Blacks job

Former Chiefs head coach and current Munster boss Clayton McMillan has spoken out about a potential shift back to New Zealand to coach the All Blacks, less than a year after making the move to Ireland.

McMillan’s Munster bowed out of the Champions Cup over the weekend after a 31-29 defeat against Castres at Thomond Park in Limerick.

With Scott Robertson’s All Blacks tenure ending at the two-year mark, rumours have started to swirl in the rugby world about who may take over in the middle of the four-year Rugby World Cup cycle.

The 51-year-old Munster head coach has been thrown around as one of the possible options, with the likes of Jamie Joseph, Dave Rennie, and Joe Schmidt leading the discussions, while Vern Cotter, Pat Lam, Warren Gatland, and McMillan have been mentioned as outside chances.

The former police officer coached the Chiefs to three straight Super Rugby Pacific finals, but fell short to the Blues in 2024 and the Crusaders in 2023 and 2025.

McMillan coached the All Blacks XV and the Maori All Blacks before departing New Zealand shores with one year left on his contract to take up the Munster role.

After Munster’s disappointing defeat against Castres, McMillan was asked about the All Blacks job and whether he would be keen on the role.

“To be perfectly honest, with all respect, I haven’t even given any thought to the question that you’ve just asked,” McMillan said to Irish media post-match in Limerick.

McMillan’s initial reaction was more about the personal effect something like this has on a coach, and he was quick to feel sorry for Robertson.

“It’s not normally the New Zealand way to make such a big decision, but it’s one that’s been made, and my initial thoughts are actually just with Scott and his family.

“Nobody likes to see players or coaches have to go through that. So my thoughts are with him.”

To many, Robertson’s departure from the All Blacks came as a surprise. McMillan was one person in that camp, admitting that Thursday’s news was “a bit of a surprise” to him.

NZR Chair David Kirk addressed media in Auckland on Thursday and explained that the board has planned to “cast the net wide” in order to find the new All Blacks coach.

“We’re completely open,” Kirk said, after admitting there was no initial frontrunner just yet.

“We’re going to cast the net wide. We’re going to get as many people as we can. We think coaching the All Blacks is the greatest rugby coaching role in the world.”