Highlanders snap up Canterbury's Delaney
Delaney currently holds the position of Canterbury head coach and will start with the Highlanders, on a two-year contract, at the completion of the National Provincial Cup.
Born in Timaru, Delaney left New Zealand as a 19-year-old lock or No.8 to play in Japan, further stints in France and the United Kingdom with the London Irish followed.
His first coaching position was with Nottingham where he was the head coach then director of rugby, before returning to London Irish in 2012 as their forwards coach. He later became head coach and then rugby operations manager.
Roger Clark, Highlanders CEO, was pleasantly surprised that a coach with so much international experience was available so close to home "when we set out to find a new defence coach we were aware that it might be a global search to find the right candidate, ironically almost all of Glenn’s coaching experience is offshore but in a stroke of good fortune for us he landed up right under our nose just a few hours up the road. This is a great appointment for our club and I am sure all our players will benefit from Glenn’s experience,"
Highlanders head coach Aaron Mauger was familiar with Delaney’s work, said: "Glenn had established a great reputation in the UK over the years and I occasionally used his expertise when I was with Leicester.
"He will make a great addition to our coaching group with his knowledge and ability to get the best out of players. Scotty McLeod has done great work with the team over the last few seasons and I want Glenn to grow that foundation and make defence a real strength of our game. I am stoked that the timing was right and he was available to do the job,"
Delaney added: "I am delighted to join the Highlanders and am looking forward to working with a very exciting group of players and a coaching team I know well and respect. I look forward to linking up once my commitments to the Mitre 10 cup are complete,"
Meanwhile, the Canterbury Rugby Union has appointed Joe Maddock to lead the team from 2018.
Prior to starting as Canterbury Assistant Coach, Maddock worked as an assistant coach with the Canterbury Under-19 and Crusader Knights teams and was the head coach of the Prebbleton club side. He also coached the Barbarians in June when they played the British & Irish Lions.
Maddock is a former outside back who began his professional rugby career with Canterbury in 2001. He debuted for the Crusaders and New Zealand Maori in 2002 before leaving to play for English club Bath in 2004. He also played for Saracens and Italian club Treviso Rugby.
Canterbury Rugby CEO Nathan Godfrey said he was delighted to announce that Maddock will step up to the Head Coach role.
"Clearly we are disappointed to see Glenn moving on after just one season, he has made a strong impact on the playing group in his short time here. But we fully understand that our Canterbury coaches are highly valued and we respect Glenn’s desire to test his skills at Super Rugby level.
"We are fortunate to have such a talented and respected replacement in Joe, which demonstrates our strong focus on succession planning. Joe has done an outstanding job as the Assistant Coach for Canterbury over the last three seasons and was also exposed to the Crusaders coaching environment earlier this year. I’m confident Joe is ready to take the next step in his coaching career and continue the proud legacy established by some of the Canterbury coaches who have gone before him," Godfrey said.
Maddock, as a born and bred Cantabrian, is really honoured to be taking on the Head Coach role.
"I have been involved in Canterbury Rugby as a player and a coach for a number of years now and I have loved every minute of it, so to have the chance to step up as Head Coach is a dream come true," Maddock said, adding "I have learnt from some excellent head coaches here, with Razor [Scott Robertson] and Glenn both enjoying huge success and installing a really enjoyable culture that demands high standards but knows how to have fun. I look forward to continuing to build on that culture and success and also putting my own stamp on it,"
