Wellington - Chris Boyd will take over as coach of the Hurricanes next season and will be assisted by John Plumtree, his former boss at provincial level in New Zealand and at the Sharks, the Super Rugby team said on Monday.
New Zealand under-20 coach Boyd steps from the Wellington Lions provincial side to replace Mark Hammett, who said in April he would be stepping down and last month was announced as new head coach at Welsh outfit Cardiff Blues.
Plumtree resigned from his position as forwards coach with the Ireland team on Sunday - for “personal reasons”, the Irish Rugby Union said in a news release.
“There has been a lot of hard work poured into the Hurricanes club over the past four years, and it's now our job to build on that foundation,” Boyd said.
“Our main focus is to create a brand of football that people find attractive to watch, and develop a team that people want to get behind.”
Hammett launched a controversial clear-out of stalwart players including Andrew Hore and Ma'a Nonu when he took over in 2011 and his time in New Zealand's capital was marked by underperformance with the occasional brilliant display.
Among those was the 45-8 defeat of the champion Chiefs in Wellington two weeks ago, which was followed last weekend by a 37-24 loss to the Auckland Blues which left the Hurricanes in the sixth and final playoff spot.
Reuters