‘Not aligned’: NZ under-20 rugby coach Milton Haig makes shock announcement

Wednesday, 28 May 2025

An assessment of Milton Haig's coaching portfolio suggests he should have been an excellent fit as head coach of the New Zealand under-20 team.

He wasn't. The 'arranged marriage'' didn't work.

When the New Zealand team departs for Italy to play in the World Rugby under-20 championships, Haig won't be on the plane.

His resignation ahead of the important tournament, which New Zealand hasn't won since 2017, has forced NZ Rugby to consider appointing a new coach a month out from their opening game against Italy in Calvisano on June 30.

NZ Rugby has options.

It could promote one of the incumbent assistants in Jarrad Hoeata, Craig Dunlea and Alex Robertson. Or a fresh recruit, who will fill the space left by Haig, could come in over the top.

When NZ Rugby decided to give Haig this job, because predecessor Jono Gibbes had departed to join the Chiefs, the decision appeared sound.

Haig's CV was loaded with decades of experiences as a coach, which included taking Georgia to two World Cups, but when it came to the crunch he didn't gel with Hoeata, Dunlea and Robertson.

Stuff was unable to reach Haig for comment.

In a statement released by NZ Rugby, Haig said the working relationship had broken down.

While winning the under-20 Rugby Championship title was a highlight for him and the team, it wasn't a happy union with his work-mates.

'However, I do not feel I'm fully aligned with the coaching group around things like playing style, so have made a difficult decision to step aside to give the team its best chance of reaching its full potential,'' Haig said.

'I sincerely wish the players, coaches and management all the best for the remainder of the campaign and will be supporting them from afar.''

NZ Rugby high performance player development manager Matt Sexton, also the team's campaign manager described the breakdown between Haig and his staff as an 'arranged marriage'' that didn't work.

'I guess when you enter into a coaching arrangement, you have got to be aligned, and what we did … this group was actually an arranged marriage as such,'' Sexton said.

'We were pulling different people that were available into roles, and sometimes that doesn't work.

'What I will say is, there's not a whole lot of bad blood and there wasn't any implosions of a coaching group.

'It's just, in terms of the philosophical piece in how the team was going to run with … the ways you work as a coaching group or the game plan or how the week is structured, there was some differences there and that created some tension.''

The New Zealand team won the Rugby Championship after a dramatic comeback in its final game against South Africa in the Republic.

Sexton said the coaching staff met prior to that tournament with the best intentions of making their partnerships work. But they couldn't.

Haig will now focus on his role as a World Rugby high performance consultant.

Sexton was on the panel appointed Haig.

He admired Haig for stepping down: 'He decided it was in the best interests of the team for him not to be involved.''

Sexton described it as a 'selfless act''.

'I take my hat off to him for doing that, and he put the team first,'' Sexton added.

'It's unfortunate but sometimes these things don't work out. We are about to head into what is a pressure-cooker junior World Cup and we have got to make sure we are really cohesive and aligned.''

Meanwhile, Tasman Rugby Union announced on Tuesday that Huw Beynon will join the NZ under-20 team as a manager.