The transplanted Scot doing famous father proud in New Zealand

Clark Laidlaw, head coach at Super Rugby champions Hurricanes, has made a huge impact in New Zealand and would "welcome a conversation" about taking on the top job in Scotland. Clark Laidlaw has been head coach at Super Rugby champions Hurricanes for three seasons A few weeks back, four Scots shot the breeze in New Zealand, a meeting of rugby intellects transplanted from Edinburgh, Inverness, Yetholm and Jedburgh – all of them doing great things in their adopted land. Mike Blair was one of them. On Saturday, in what promises to be a surreal day for him, the former Scotland captain will return to Murrayfield as attack coach for the All Blacks.

Euan Mackintosh was another. Mackintosh is the All Blacks' skills acquisition coach. The third man was Adam Hay, who is New Zealand's performance scientist. The fourth was Clark Laidlaw, son of the great Roy, cousin of Greig and Super Rugby champion coach in 2026. "We were getting a bit of stick at lunch, the four of us talking Scottish," says Laidlaw, whose Hurricanes team not only won Super Rugby in late June, they dominated it. Finishing top of the table when the regular season ended, they won their first knockout game 66-12 against the Brumbies, then beat the Blues 57-21 in the semi-final before dismantling the Chiefs 60-5