Clark Laidlaw: a Scot in Super Rugby. New Hurricanes coach makes a mark.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Hurricanes head coach Clark Laidlaw accepts that as a Scotsman and a sevens coach in Super Rugby, he’s a fish out of water.

When the Hurricanes win, Laidlaw’s background isn’t an issue. He can’t be sure what the reaction might be if they lose because they haven’t yet lost under his guidance.

The Wellington-based Hurricanes beat the Hamilton-based Chiefs 36-23 in a top-of-the-table match Saturday to stay unbeaten through eight rounds.

“You’ve always got a point to prove in professional rugby, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Scotsman or a New Zealander,” Laidlaw said in a radio interview. “I have coached sevens previously, so at 15s I guess if I lose I’ll be Scottish and a Sevens coach and if we win I might get a little more grace.”

Laidlaw accepts that his coaching trajectory, leading him from the Jed club in the Scottish Borders to the Hurricanes on the other side of the world is an unusual one.

He was born into a strong rugby family, son of British and Irish Lions scrumhalf Roy Laidlaw and cousin of Scotland star Greig. Laidlaw played sevens for Scotland for six years before deciding his future was in coaching. One of his first opportunities came with Taranaki province in New Zealand and he has been caught in the gravitational pull of New Zealand rugby ever since.

Laidlaw began at age-group level in Taranaki and worked his way up. He was first a skills coach, then defense coach at the Hurricanes from 2013 to 2015 before returning to Britain for a year with London Irish.

After working as an assistant to the famous New Zealand sevens coach Gordon Tietjens, Laidlaw was made head coach of the All Blacks sevens team, becoming the first foreign-born coach of a New Zeland national rugby team.

He coached the team to a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, a Commmonwealth Games gold medal and to the Sevens World Cup. Then came the call from the Hurricanes. To say there was skepticism that a former sevens coach could succeed in Super Rugby, let alone a Scot, is an understatement.

There weren’t high hopes for the Hurricanes when the season began. They lost to the ACT Brumbies in the quarterfinals in both of the first two seasons of Super Rugby Pacific and this year are without their talisman, the All Blacks backrower Ardie Savea who is in Japan.

But Laidlaw has molded a relatively young Hurricanes team into a considerable force. In the past, the Hurricanes have played with mixed objectives, stressing discipline because of their traditional indiscipline, trying to find structure from their usual freewheeling style.

Laidlaw, with a sevens background, has indulged the Hurricanes’ instinctive attacking game, giving license to players such as scrumhalf Cam Roigard — now injured — flyhalf Brett Cameron, fullback Ruben Love, hooker Asafa Aumua and looseforwards Peter Lokai and Brayden Iose.

Those players have come into their own with only a light leadership touch from captain Brad Shields or veteran Jordie Barrett in the midfield.

The Hurricanes have a formidable scrum, excellent wingers and a solid midfield. With those attributes they are able to play without some of the constraints of past season.

Saturday’s match against the Chiefs and their tepid performance against the Crusaders in Christchurch show there are still problems. They drift in and out of matches and their discipline still can be troublesome, though their defense is good.

Laidlaw believes his varied background and experience has put him in a good position to cope with the ups and downs of a Super Rugby season.

“I am Scottish, I have coached sevens but I was also here for three years coaching 15s, coaching Taranaki, Samoa and London Irish,” he said. “I like to think a range of experiences gives you good experience and stuff to fall back on when times are good or times are hard.

“What people don’t get is sevens puts you under a lot of pressure. You play six games in a weekend. So the stuff that I can teach around intensity of preparation, intensity of opposition, I think is invaluable.”

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