Wow!! An incredible decision by The Chiefs who will keep the faith with Clayton McMillan as head coach next season, having helped turn from a winless 2020 to being the Top 2 finalists earlier this year in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
There’s no need to change a winning formula that’s going to benefit the team’s long-term framework as McMillan will also keep his existing Maori All Blacks commitments in the same role since 2017, so it’s great to see the Perth born coach have another crack to stop the Crusaders’ long-running dominance.
What does it mean for Warren Gatland when he returned to New Zealand with the Chiefs on a four-year contract after a fruitful stint for Wales at the end of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, didn’t win a game in 2020 but had to focus on the British & Irish Lions this year?
He’s not going anywhere but Gatland will return to Waikato under a new position as director of rugby which is a system being adopted by most Northern Hemisphere & some former South African Super Rugby clubs, He already tasted plenty of European success before at Provincial & International level & hopes that experience will help push the Chiefs further when Super Rugby Pacific begins in February 2022.
The upcoming journey will be a bit different when it comes to playing the regular-season portion, then you have the return of the knockout rounds since 2019 beginning with the Quarter Final & Semi-Final before facing the other best two for that ultimate championship, but we’ll see if The Chiefs are progressing that became 2nd best behind Crusaders or regressing like the 2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign under McMillan.