Clark Laidlaw has locked in his future as coach of the New Zealand men's sevens team as the prepare to start the qualification process for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
New Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
New Zealand Rugby confirmed on Wednesday the Scotsman had signed on to lead the side through to the end of 2025.
Laidlaw, who took charge of the team at the end of 2017 and had put them on the podium at every pinnacle event since, was confident the programme would keep getting better.
"I genuinely feel our best rugby is still ahead of us," he said as the side got set to kick off their Olympic qualification bid in Hong Kong at the end of this month.
"As coaches and management, we can still improve, I can certainly improve as a head coach, which in turn means the team can really grow over the next couple of years."
With the 2022/23 World Series doubling as Olympic qualification, Laidlaw said they would be searching for a consistency in performance to confirm a spot in Paris.
"You've got to finish in top four, but we want to win.
"It's obvious we need to have a real consistency through the year, we need to have a team that can go out and accumulate points to qualify."
Since Laidlaw took over from Sir Gordon Tietjens almost five years ago, the team had won Commonwealth Games gold and bronze medals, an Olympic silver medal, a World Cup title and the 2019-20 World Series crown.
The New Zealand side had also made the final in seven of their last eleven World Series tournaments.
Joining Laidlaw in the coaching group going forward were current assistants Tomasi Cama and Euan Mackintosh.
New Zealand Rugby head of high performance Mike Anthony said it was important to provide continuity to the programme only two years out from the Paris Games.
"Clark has done a fantastic job in the sevens programme. The build up to the Tokyo Olympics was very disrupted due to Covid but the team finished with a silver medal and I know they are extremely determined to go one better in Paris.
"He has played a significant role in the development of some top young talent and has ensured a better alignment between the sevens and XVs pathways in collaboration with the Super Rugby clubs.
"Along with Tomasi and Euan we are confident they will continue to build on the great culture the team has established and perform with success on the field.
The New Zealand team to travel to Hong Kong for the opening tournament was set to be named next week.
