Clark Laidlaw: transplanted Scot who has led 2026 Super Rugby champions in New Zealand

Clark Laidlaw, head coach of the Hurricanes, has guided the side to the 2026 Super Rugby title in New Zealand and spoke about his career on the BBC’s Scotland Rugby Podcast published on 3 November 2026. The transplanted Scot has been Hurricanes head coach for three seasons and has lived in New Zealand on and off for 18 years.

Laidlaw traced his rise from a school-leaver at 16 to a New Zealand sevens coach, collecting Commonwealth Games gold, World Cup Sevens gold and an Olympic silver in Tokyo along the way. His Hurricanes finished top of the regular-season table and then produced comprehensive knockout victories — 66-12 against the Brumbies, 57-21 over the Blues in the semi-final and 60-5 against the Chiefs in the final — to win Super Rugby in late June. He is far more celebrated in New Zealand than in Scotland, the podcast noted, and he holds a New Zealand passport.

Laidlaw described a recent meeting in New Zealand with three fellow Scots — Mike Blair, Euan Mackintosh and Adam Hay — all working in the Kiwi system. "We were getting a bit of stick at lunch, the four of us talking Scottish," says Laidlaw; Mike Blair will return to Murrayfield on Saturday as attack coach for the All Blacks, Mackintosh is the All Blacks' skills acquisition coach and Hay is New Zealand's performance scientist.

Eight of Laidlaw's Hurricanes players are included in Dave Rennie's touring squad and that number might have been higher but for injury, the podcast said. Laidlaw, despite holding a New Zealand passport, said he will back Scotland on Saturday and set out his view of the upcoming test: "You're gonna see New Zealand's strongest possible team, but there's no reason why Scotland can't win," he reckons. "It's been a bounce of the ball here and there [in recent games]. "Scotland are definitely knocking on the door. I want Scotland to beat the All Blacks and I want the All Blacks to win every other game."

He recounted leaving Scotland at age 30 to take a skills coach role in Taranaki and reflected on the curiosity that drove him abroad. "I just thought there must be different ways to look at the game and different ways to look at life, really," he said, adding: "I used to go and pass my rugby ball against a tree at lunchtime and train at night. I used to say to the old boys, I wasn't going to be staying here. "They'd be like, 'Yeah, you'll be here'. I just knew I didn't want to be there for 20 years. It's not like I had a bad life in Scotland. "I had a great job at East Lothian Council and I was coaching Jed-Forest. But I was curious to see what was outside of those big walls in Jed."

Laidlaw described how living in New Zealand and working in sevens changed him personally and culturally. "Being around so many different people from different backgrounds took a little bit of my aggressive Scottish side off me," he says. "Not too much, I hope. I have more empathy and more of an understanding side and I certainly didn't have that when I was younger."

He reflected on the responsibilities that came with coaching sevens squads made up of young athletes. "The types of athletes we would bring in were often young, so it became an environment where we did have to look after each other," he says. "We had to look after young players. "Mums and dads were sending their kids off to the Sevens. It was the first time they were leaving home. So we did have to have a caring element to that programme as well as driving them forward."

Laidlaw briefly worked at London Irish and said he turned down offers from Leinster and Montpellier before returning to New Zealand after two seasons. Asked about future international jobs, he praised Gregor Townsend and kept the door open: "Gregor's done an amazing job," he answers. "Lots of coaches around the world will be looking at that job with real excitement for whenever Gregor moves on. "I'd welcome a conversation. It would be a lot to up sticks and move back to Scotland, but you never know in sport. "One thing I have learned is you can't plan. My focus is on the Hurricanes. If that leads to international rugby somewhere one day then I would definitely look at it, but looking too far ahead can trip you up."

Laidlaw spoke about his father, Roy, who earned 47 Scotland caps and four Lions caps during an eight-year Test career, and about the impact of Roy living with dementia. "That would be 120 games nowadays, wouldn't it," says his son. "How is he? The short answer is he's doing as good as he can. He's safe and healthy. He's in a care home in Jed and is well looked after. "The family is amazing. Greig's mum and dad are amazing. My middle brother lives close by and I feel for him because it's tough on him. "John Rutherford and Keith Robertson [his fellow 1984 Grand Slam winners] go across every week and sit with him. It's one of the hardest things about being on this side of the world. "It's always in the back of your head that Scotland is home and moving back at some stage might be an option."

Scotland face New Zealand at Murrayfield on Saturday, a fixture that will see Laidlaw backing Scotland despite his long career in New Zealand and his Hurricanes having supplied eight players to the touring party.