Experienced sevens and rugby coach, Clark Laidlaw, has been appointed as the new Head Coach of the All Blacks Sevens, New Zealand Rugby announced today.



Laidlaw has previously been the All Blacks Sevens skills coach and video analyst, the programme lead for both Taranaki and Wellington Sevens, the Hurricanes assistant coach and is currently the assistant coach of London Irish. Laidlaw also played sevens for Scotland between 2004-2007.

Laidlaw will take up his new role from 1 June 2017.



New Zealand Rugby General Manager of Rugby Neil Sorensen said appointing Laidlaw was about getting the best person for the job.



“We are very excited to have selected a coach of Clark’s calibre to lead the All Blacks Sevens to success at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. His specialist experience as both a sevens coach and player makes him uniquely qualified for this role.



“Our priority was getting the right coach with the long-term vision to win Olympic gold. So while we would have loved Clark to start straight away, we are happy to wait until next year because he is the best person for the job to build a winning sevens team over the long term.



“Clark has the vision to develop an exciting sevens team and the skills to develop quality rugby players that will add to the pool of talent in the New Zealand rugby system.



“Clark has a proven track record in rugby. He was an innovative coach of the Taranaki sevens team and a respected skills coach of the All Blacks Sevens. He is well known and respected in rugby and it will be great to have him back here.”



