Todd Blackadder
Crusaders Head Coach
The only man to ever lift the Super rugby trophy three times as captain of the winning team, Todd Blackadder is now back with the Crusaders as head coach. The 2000 All Black captain has taken up that role on his return from a stint playing and more recently coaching in Scotland. Captain of the Crusaders on occasion during the foundation 1996 season, but then regularly from 1997 to 2001, Blackadder also led Canterbury to its first NPC success in 14 years in 1997, before sharing in a second NPC triumph immediately prior to his departure in 2001. He also led his country in 11 Tests in 2000 after having made his debut two years earlier against England. In Scotland, Blackadder led the Edinburgh Gunners side in the Celtic League and Heineken Cup, before trading in his on-field role for a position as head coach at the Gunners. He was also involved as an assistant within the Scotland national team set up before giving that away to concentrate on his Gunners’ duties. On his return to New Zealand, Blackadder took up the position of Tasman’s director of rugby, leading the team to a quarter-final against Canterbury in the Air New Zealand Cup, before becoming Crusaders head coach.
Rob Penney
Canterbury Head Coach
Rob Penney played 101 games for Canterbury between 1985 and 1994. The former Burnside No 8, who was an All Black trialist in 1991, captained the province in the 1992 and 1993 seasons. Penney subsequently moved to coaching, being co-opted as Aussie McLean’s assistant with the Canterbury Air New Zealand NPC side in 2003. He held that position from 2003 to 2005, sharing in the side’s NPC title and Ranfurly Shield success of 2004, before taking over as head coach for Canterbury’s inaugural campaign in the Air New Zealand Cup in 2006. Penney also acted as an assistant coach, with responsibility for the lineouts, during the Crusaders’ run to the final Rebel Sport Super 12 title in 2005. Last year Penney, along with assistant John Haggart, coached Canterbury to its first Air New Zealand Cup success with a hard-fought victory over Wellington in the final at Westpac Stadium.
Mark Hammett
Crusaders Assistant Coach
The first former Crusaders player to take up an official role on the team’s coaching staff, Mark Hammett signed off from his playing career by scoring two tries in the 2003 Super 12 final. Although he was named in the squad the following year, after having featured in his second Rugby World Cup later in 2003, Hammett was unable to play again due to a recurring neck injury. The tough hooker ended his career in sight of centuries, in terms of appearances, for both the Crusaders (81) and Canterbury (78), after receiving the honour of being able to play alongside his younger brother Chris on his Crusaders debut in 1996. Hammett was Robbie Deans’s assistant for the 2008, 2007 and 2006 Super rugby seasons, enjoying victories in ’08 and ’06. Hammett played 29 Tests for the All Blacks after succeeding Sean Fitzpatrick as hooker.
Daryl Gibson
Crusaders Assistant Coach
Daryl Gibson joined the Crusaders in a coaching capacity after a long stint playing and coaching in the United Kingdom with the Glasgow Warriors, Leicester Tigers and Bristol Shoguns. Gibson played 19 Tests for the All Blacks following his debut against Samoa in Albany in June 1999. Gibson also appeared in all five games for the New Zealand Maori on their 1998 tour of Scotland. Gibson made 78 appearances for the Crusaders in Super 12 rugby from 1996-2002, scoring 14 tries and gaining three winners’ medals in 1998, 1999 and 2002. Gibson also played 80 matches for Canterbury following his debut in June 1993, claiming 35 tries and winning the NPC with the side in 1997 and 2001.
Tabai Matson
Canterbury Assistant Coach
Tabai Matson is back in the Canterbury fold after 11 years playing and coaching overseas. Former centre Matson, 36, played five games for the All Blacks in 1995-96 and two Tests for Fiji at the 1999 World Cup. He was known as a hard-running player with deceptive pace.
Matson played 58 times for Canterbury and earned 25 caps for the Crusaders before playing for Brive in France in 1998-2000, London Irish in 2000-01 and Yamaha in Japan in 2001-06 (also head coach). His other coaching roles have included an assistant’s role with the University of Queesland in 2006 and head coach of the Gold Coast Breakers 2007-08 during which time the team made the semi-final.
John Haggart
IHPU Manager
John Haggart has been involved in a coaching capacity in one form or another since his teaching career at Dunedin’s King’s High School from the mid-1980s, where current All Black prop Carl Hayman was among his pupils. The former long-serving Otago first-five-eighths got formally involved within the New Zealand age-group system from 1994, assisting with both the national Under-19s and Under-21s. He also coached the Dunedin senior side in 1998-99 and the Otago B representative side for the same period before taking up a three-year contract as head coach of the Sanix club in Japan. Haggart returned to Dunedin to join the Otago coaching staff in 2004, acting as assistant coach in 2004 and 2005 while also filling the role as Highlanders defence coach. Otago made the NPC final in Haggart’s second year, twice beating Canterbury during that season. He joined the Canterbury coaching staff in 2006. As a player, Haggart kicked off his senior representative career in 1983, and ‘retired’ a happy man at the end of the 1991 season with 119 appearances and Otago’s first NPC title to his name. He coached Canterbury to Air New Zealand Cup success in 2008 along with Rob Penney.