Southland rugby's next generation of leaders

“We’ve been there and done that, and we bring what it means to be a Southland rugby player. We know what means to be successful, but we also know what we go through when we struggle.”

Rugby Southland director of rugby Matt Saunders, left, and Stags co-coaches James Wilson and David Hall. PHOTO DEBBIE FAHEY

Close to 14 years ago Matt Saunders, David Hall, James Wilson and Josh Bekhuis, were part of something special.

They helped bring New Zealand rugby’s prized Ranfurly Shield back to Southland for the first time in 50 years.

October 22, 2009, Southland beat Canterbury 9-3 in Christchurch to again etch the province’s name on the famous log of wood.

That night Hall started at No 8 before being forced from the field through injury, Saunders started on the right wing, Bekhuis at lock, and Wilson on the bench.

It’s a moment that will forever be talked about in Southland rugby circles. But fast forward to 2023 and that quartet of 2009 heroes have united in a quest to try to spark some more special Southland rugby moments.

After a stint in the grocery trade, Saunders joined Rugby Southland this year as its director of rugby. It includes overseeing the Stags programme.

Wilson and Hall have this year been named Stags co-coaches, stepping up after stints as assistant coaches, while Bekhuis will again captain the Stags in 2023.

It’s a case of a past generation of players stepping in as the next generation of coaches and leaders.

“I think that is NPC rugby right,” Wilson says.

“That’s the idea behind it anyway, is local born, local bred, local represent, and if you can’t play anymore, you pass it on to the next lot.”

On top of those that have moved into coaching with the Stags from that 2009 Ranfurly Shield team, Jamie Mackintosh is also now coaching with the Hurricanes at Super level and Otago in the NPC.

Kendrick Lynn has also carved out a coaching career in France and will join the Highlanders as an assistant coach, while Jason Kawau also has previously spent time as an assistant coach with the Stags.

Wilson and Hall are somewhat following arguably Southland’s most successful coaches in the form of David Henderson and Simon Culhane.

Culhane and Henderson were co-coaches through that golden Ranfurly Shield era and Wilson and Hall are now taking up that co-coaching mantle.

“I set up a meeting with Goof [Henderson] within the week of the season finishing, and just talked about pros and cons [of co-coaching]. And there’s definitely both,” Wilson says.

“It was great to hear that advice because we saw that work then and we are hoping it does the same now. And at the moment it is going pretty good, we’ve had a working relationship for a long time.”

Although there is a difference.

Henderson and Culhane were almost joined at the hip through that time. They didn’t just coach together, they run a business together and often went hunting together.

They were close mates and that friendship survived through the rigors of coaching.

As much rugby as Hall and Wilson played together, they probably haven’t entered this coaching marriage with the same sort of close-knit friendship as Culhane and Henderson did.

Although Wilson says it is working.

“David is a bit of a family man now, and obviously I don’t have kids to run around after. So that gives me a bit more time with the coaching and rugby side of things.

“But that’s ok, that’s the sort of relationship we have. I remember back in the day when you saw Goof, Nibs was right there.

“We are not quite there yet, but I don’t know if I can handle Crazy [Hall] that much, and I’m sure he’d say the same about me,” Wilson joked.

“But we definitely have a great working relationship at the moment. It’s a good partnership.”

“We’ve got a good team with Matt [Saunders] on board as well, and Daryl [Thompson]. We’ve got quite a bit of experience, obviously more playing than coaching but that helps with us having decent relationships with these guys.

“We’ve been there and done that, and we bring what it means to be a Southland rugby player. We know what means to be successful, but we also know what we go through when we struggle.”

“We are a tight-knit [coaching] group and we’ve tried to embed that into the players as well. We’ve seen that benefit us as players in the past when we were all playing, and we hope that benefits the boys now.”

Wilson was handed the reins last season to the led the Stags through the preseason in the lead up to the 2022 NPC season.

He took charge while then-head coach Dale MacLeod was away coaching at the Super level as an assistant coach with Moana Pasifika.

It provided some challenges with Wilson only, sort of, in charge.

“We had issues last year not being able to sign off on a few things with what we wanted to do on and off the field, just with Dale being away. And limited communication with him just being so busy, which is understandable because he was involved in the Super campaign [with Moana Pasifika].

“Just being here on the ground and being able to sign off on some of those details that we didn’t last year I think has put us in a good position, especially preseason, that helped.”

Wilson says the buildup to the 2023 NPC season started as soon as last season finished and he felt they were more advanced with their preparation this season.

“It’s been a long build-up. It’s just great to see all the planning coming to fruition I suppose.

“We prepped for this season a long time ago, for a number of reasons. One, we wanted to get the ball rolling and lay the foundations before Panel [Saunders] was employed and come on board.

“We also wanted to get ahead of contracting, we’ve very much been late to the game with contracting in the past and getting players across the line to come down here.

“We were busy right from the end of last season.”

Wilson says there has been a focus on growing player depth in Southland and in some areas, the 2023 Stags squad were better off than in previous seasons.

The priority was to get players down in Southland playing club rugby and, in some cases, they have been successful with that.

In other positions, they were light in playing depth, and in particular the consistency of form in club rugby the Stags coaches were after.

“So, we had to go elsewhere to fill that and what depth brings is competition, and what competition brings is becoming better players basically. It breeds that want to be better.”

Wilson says that has led to an increase in intensity in training as players scrap it out for a starting spot.

It’s also created some welcomed headaches for Wilson and his fellow coaching team as they firm up the team to play Waikato in week one on Sunday.

Twelve fit Stags squad members will miss selection for Sunday’s game.

“I lost a bit of sleep last night, in particular with one position. We cleared that up this morning and there’s going to be some tough conversations over the next 24 hours,” Wilson says.

“I tell you what, training [on Wednesday] is going to be pretty intense because the team gets named and unfortunately some players will miss getting out with that 23, they are going to be pretty fired up at training.”

So, for Wilson what would success be in 2023 for the Stags?

“I want Southland to have a winning season. So, a winning season is winning more than half of our games, that’s successful to me.

“That’s one goal I’ve set myself personally as a coach is getting these players to that level.

“We’ve guys here that want to better that, which is great to hear right now.

“I know week one is when the reality hits in, good or bad. We’ll see what happens on Sunday, but the boys are positive.”

Sunday’s game will kick-off 4.35pm at Rugby Park in Invercargill.