Former Super Rugby title-winning coach links up with Highlanders in new role
Chris Boyd will join the Highlanders coaching group in 2023 as a coaching mentor. Boyd will draw on his wealth of coaching experience to help guide new head coach, Clarke Dermody, and his coaching group in 2023.
Highlanders CEO Roger Clark believes the appointment is a good fit for the Highlanders.
“The teams that Chris has been involved with are known for their attacking ability and he is an excellent communicator at all levels,” said Clark.
“His vast experience will be a great influence for Clarke and his coaching group.
“We are fortunate to have a coach of Chris Boyd’s stature to fill the role of coaching mentor which in the past has been done on an informal basis by another outstanding coach, Tony Gilbert.”
Boyd’s coaching CV is extensive, having coached at every level of the game from club to country.
Beginning with nearly a decade of coaching at Wellington club, Tawa, and then the Wellington NPC team which led on to an assistant’s role with the Durban-based South African club, Sharks, in 2009/10.
In the years following his return to New Zealand he assisted the Tongan national team at the 2011 World Cup while also taking over the head coach role of Wellington NPC and the New Zealand Under 20s team.
In 2015 he became head coach of the Hurricanes and steered his team to the Super Rugby final but, as all Highlanders fans remember well, ultimately lost to the Highlanders.
He continued his coaching success the following year and again guided the team to a final’s berth and this time succeeding and capturing a title for the Hurricanes. He left the Hurricanes in 2018 and still holds the record as the most successful coach at the Hurricanes.
In 2018, he became Director of Rugby at Northampton Saints. Again, immediate success followed, winning the Premiership Rugby Cup, as well as qualifying for the Premiership play-offs in his inaugural season.
Four years later, having developed a young, high-potential playing squad (boasting the highest percentage of home-grown talent in the league), Boyd led the Saints to another Premiership playoff narrowly losing to eventual winners Leicester Tigers.
Dermody is eager to engage with Boyd over the coming months, “I knew from the moment I accepted the head coach role I wanted to surround myself with as many quality people as I could. In terms of quality, you don’t get much better than Chris.
“His experience and abilities are obvious in what he has already achieved in rugby, and I’m delighted he has come on board for 2023, to have his support in my first year as head coach of the Highlanders is outstanding.”
Boyd is looking forward to the opportunity to impart his knowledge and work alongside Clarke and his coaching group.
“Clarke is a good man and an impressive coach with a willingness to learn,” said Boyd.
“There aren’t many people who understand the Highlanders’ DNA better than Clarke, having played and coached for the club. My role will be about listening to the coaching group and working out where I can add value”.
“I believe my relationships with the Highlanders and Northampton Saints, will be mutually beneficial. With a foot in both hemispheres, I hope I can add value to both clubs by sharing best practice, exchanging ideas, and identifying new trends.”
-Press Release/Highlanders
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments