Munster-bound Clayton McMillan says ‘the sun will rise in the morning’ for Chiefs after Super Rugby Pacific final loss to Crusaders
Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan.
Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan praised his players and backroom staff after their narrow loss to the Crusaders in the Super Rugby Pacific final on Saturday.
The men from Hamilton suffered a 16-12 defeat to the competition’s most successful side in Christchurch after the home side led 13-12 at half-time.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Chiefs as it was their third successive loss in a Super Rugby final and their fourth in five seasons with McMillan coaching the side.
Despite falling short at the final hurdle yet again, McMillan focused on the positives after the match.
‘I’m at peace because I know how hard our people work’
“Everyone knows we have been to the final dance a number of times and haven’t quite got the job done. But in a weird sort of way, I’m at peace because I know how hard our people work,” he said.
“It wasn’t a case of a lack of effort, we just came up against a really good Crusaders team who squeezed us in all the right places and deserved to win.”
Saturday’s defeat was McMillan’s last match in charge of the Chiefs as he is set to take over the coaching reins at Irish province Munster.
His coaching tenure with the Chiefs started in 2021 and showed plenty of promise from the outset, but the Crusaders have proven to be a thorn in his flesh for most of that time.
The Chiefs lost to the Crusaders in the Super Rugby Aotearoa final in his first season as head coach before his troops were beaten by the men from Christchurch and they lost to them in semi-finals of the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific tournament in 2022.
McMillan’s troops swept all before them during the 2023 campaign but after finishing atop the standings during the league phase of the competition, they lost to the Crusaders in the final in Hamilton that year.
Super Rugby Pacific’s bridesmaids
It was a similar story against the Blues in last year’s final at Eden Park in Auckland and after losing in Saturday’s final to the Crusaders, they have cemented their role as Super Rugby Pacific’s bridesmaids under McMillan’s guidance.
They finished in first position after the completion of the tournament’s league phase again this year and although they lost their qualifying final to the Blues, they still advanced to the semi-finals as the tournament’s ‘lucky losers’.
That defeat ultimately cost them a home final, after they beat the Brumbies in their semi-final in Hamilton, but McMillan would not focus on what could have been. “I mean, the disappointment will linger, but we can’t change anything. It’s done now,” said McMillan.
“The reflection will be about remembering all the good stuff that happened… you blokes [the media] will determine how you see this team and see myself, and the journey that we have been on the last four-five years, and that’s your prerogative.
“But I know that we are a tight group who feel the disappointment, who have ridden the highs. We will bounce back. The sun will rise in the morning, I think here tomorrow, and life will continue.”