Jono Gibbes replaces Clayton McMillan as Chiefs head coach
Gibbes, who was forwards coach with Leinster when the province won their first three European Cups, has been at the Super Rugby club for two years as an assistant coach.
'Being part of the organisation for the past two years has given me a real appreciation for what's been built here and how this team has grown into a consistent, competitive unit,' says Gibbes.
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'My job now is to help maintain that consistency and keep pushing to unlock the full potential of this team. We have a strong foundation and a lot of talent, so I'm excited about what we can achieve.'
Gibbes captained both Waikato and the Chiefs as a player and gained eight caps for the All Blacks.
After retiring from playing in 2008, Gibbes transitioned into coaching, taking on roles with clubs including Leinster, Clermont Auvergne, La Rochelle, and Ulster.
In 2018 he left Ulster and returned to New Zealand for family reasons and led Waikato to a National Provincial Championship title as head coach, before being appointed to lead the New Zealand U20s in 2023.
He returned to the Chiefs ahead of the 2024 season as an assistant coach.
Former Chiefs head coach McMillan, who is now Munster head coach, said: 'Jono brings a wealth of experience, leadership, and a strong connection to the region.
'The coaching, management and playing group has a lot of continuity and cohesion, which is a strong foundation to build from.'
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Extra.ie
9 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Kerry boss hints at exit after final win
Jack O'Connor looks poised to bow out as one of Gaelic football's most decorated managers after masterminding an emphatic 10-point victory over Donegal at Croke Park yesterday. A comprehensive 1-26 to 0-19 win comes in a season when Kerry also won the National League and Munster championship, and it's the fifth time O'Connor has guided his native county to a league and Championship double. Kerry's 39th All-Ireland senior football title might just be the greatest of his senior management career that dates back to 2004 and comes in three different instalments. Kerry manager Jack O' Tyler Miller/Sportsfile 'My last hurrah' is how he termed yesterday's thrilling triumph, with captain Gavin White and the Clifford brothers Paudie and David so influential in a five-star team performance that left Ulster champions Donegal shellshocked. Paudie Clifford admitted afterwards that the talk of Kerry being a 'one-man team' in light of his brother David's talent was a hugely motivating force, saying the team didn't take well to being 'disrespected' in such a way. 'We felt disrespected for a long time. Ryan McHugh of Donegal in action against Paudie Clifford of Kerry. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile A team that was in three of the last four All-Irelands and have won two of the last four, we felt very disrespected. 'Being called a one-man team when you have fellas like Joe O'Connor, fellas like Jason Foley [who] have worked all their lives to play for Kerry, and you're called a 'one-man team' because you haven't won every All-Ireland.' Donegal manager Jim McGuinness was blunt in admitting his team just came up short: 'We didn't perform, Kerry did perform, that's the bottom line. Sometimes in life you've got to put your hands up and you've got to take it on the chin.
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘Tough old year' ends sweetly for Kerry manager Jack O'Connor
At the end of a tough old year, the last word goes to Jack O'Connor . And if it is to be his last act as Kerry manager, as he intimated afterwards, it will be a sweet way to go. The sweetest. O'Connor entered the press conference room with the easy gait of a man released from the pressure of a difficult year in the trenches. He might be done with all of that stuff now. 'Well, all I know is I was going out the door Thursday evening with the bag and my missus took a picture of me going out the gate,' said O'Connor when asked if he will be returning to the Kerry sideline in 2026. His latest term is now up. 'I have a fair idea now that will be up on the wall as my last hurrah, I'd say now she'll be framing that one. READ MORE 'I think I was on record earlier in the year there that it would probably be my last hurrah, do you know.' This is O'Connor's fifth All-Ireland senior football triumph as Kerry manager; his first was achieved 21 years ago. 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So, for us to finally get the reward is great.' Kerry manager Jack O'Connor and his son Cian O'Connor celebrate at the final whistle. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho O'Connor's first Sam Maguire triumph at the helm was in 2004 with a team that included Liam Hassett, Tomás Ó Sé, Paul Galvin, Colm Cooper and Johnny Crowley. He added to his collection in 2006, 2009, 2022 and now 2025. Three terms, five All-Irelands, spanning more than two decades: O'Connor's ability to evolve and mould new teams in different eras will surely define what, up to Sunday, had strangely been an occasionally underappreciated managerial record. The fifth might well in time be regarded as his greatest achievement. 'They're all good because they're all hard-earned,' he replied, declining to take the bait. 'The first one here, 21 years ago, was a great one because it's the first one. The first one gives you credibility, do you know? I wouldn't have come back the second time or the third time unless I had won something previously.' [ Jack O'Connor: 'Being involved in it so long now, I go off my instinct to know what is appropriate and what isn't' Opens in new window ] But there must be a deep sense of satisfaction in outwitting Jim McGuinness. This was an All-Ireland final played on Kerry's terms. They got their matchups spot on, they started the game on the front foot and they never relented until the final whistle. Much of the prematch talk centred on how Kerry would avoid getting overwhelmed by Donegal's hard-running game but the Ulster champions were simply smothered at source. Kerry manager Jack O'Connor commiserates with Donegal manager Jim McGuinness. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Peadar Mogan and Finnbarr Roarty have been punching holes in opposition defences all year – but they hardly managed to get out of their own half in this final. 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And so it was no harm before he trotted out of the press conference room that he was able to land a little dig at the noisy neighbours, too. 'Our mantra at half-time was we weren't going to collapse like we saw with the Cork hurlers maybe last week.' Ouch. And with that he was gone, five All-Ireland titles and all the doubters silenced. Not a bad way for a tough old year to end.
Irish Times
19 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘Unbelievably poignant' Katie Taylor message strengthened Lions' will to win
Jack Conan's seasonal finale has delivered in spades. After captaining Leinster to the United Rugby Championship title, the Lions ever-present from four years ago was in ebullient form after Saturday's 29-26 win sealed a series triumph that he will remember forever. The result was all that mattered as Conan reflected on an imperfect training week and what he felt was a far-from-perfect display by himself and the Lions, but one that had additional meaning for the man from Bray. 'We were not at our best by any measure, but physically the lads dug in unbelievably well,' said Conan, who turns 33 on Tuesday. He revealed: 'We had a video from Katie Taylor earlier in the week and it was unbelievably poignant and powerful. It spoke about being prepared to win with skill, but be ready to win by will. 'I think that was something that summed up today massively because we were not at our best at all. Pretty disappointing how we played, but we played for 80 minutes. READ MORE 'Barry ( Hugo Keenan ) getting over the line last minute was just unbelievable. I think the celebrations and the crack and changing room, if we went out and we won by 20, it wouldn't be the same,' he admitted. 'Everyone's just over the moon. To be part of a Lions winning series team is just incredibly special. I feel incredibly humbled and honoured to be part of it all. Not my best game, but a lot of us weren't at the races at all, but we stuck in there. You can't fault the effort. I thought the defensive sets we put in, just whacking people and just staying in there, was unbelievable. I think everyone loved it, even the English and the Scottish boys and the Welsh boy — Jack Conan 'It's something that will go down in history,' he continued, random thoughts pouring out amid the immediate euphoria of reaching one of the true highs of his rugby career. 'They weren't writing the history books about how s**t we were, but they'll say that we won and that's all that matters. Just so special to be part of it.' Jack Conan (left) and Tadhg Furlong celebrate the Lions' victory over Australia in Saturday's second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Photograph: Martin Keep/AFP via Getty Images Taylor's message was particularly poignant for Conan given they both hail from Bray. 'Massively. Huge. Someone to come from the town I'm from, I'm incredibly proud of where I come from and I know Katie is as well. She's gone on to achieve incredible feats in the boxing world and to be such a superstar and be just incredibly humble and driven and knock it out of herself is something that we kind of leant on as well. We knew that Australia are a hugely proud nation and they showed it today in spades. 'They were unbelievable, they really were, but we just stuck in it for 80 minutes and [I'm] just incredibly proud of the effort from the lads. I know things didn't click and we weren't flowing properly, but we were getting off the line, trying to hit people, trying to make it count every chance we got. And I think we did that and that's why we got the result in the end.' [ Australia head coach Joe Schmidt unhappy at match officials over Jac Morgan clearout Opens in new window ] It transpired that the Irish performance coach Gary Keegan, who is also part of the extensive Lions backroom team, was the key figure in asking Taylor to provide a motivational video. 'Gary Keegan would have been very close with her and helped her through her amateur career into professional career; he's the link there. It meant a lot to me being from the same place and seeing her on the world stage, but I think everyone loved it, even the English and the Scottish boys and the Welsh boy. It resonated with everyone. 'It was unbelievably poignant, it was class. It really hit home for us, it was brilliant.' Conan was one of a record nine Irish players in the starting line-up who contributed to this series-clinching second Test win, as well as Rónan Kelleher and James Ryan off the bench, with three of them among the Lions try scorers. In another ever-lasting image, Keenan was the match-winner. Putting down one of the two cans of Guinness he had been holding in each hand, Conan said of Keenan: 'Delighted for him, because he had a bit of a rocky start to the campaign with the sickness that derailed him for a while and it's a testament to his professionalism and staying in it. I was delighted for him. Jack Conan came close to scoring a try in the series-clinching victory against Australia. Photograph:'Now in saying that, I would have liked it more if he gave me the ball on the edge and I scored the try,' joked Conan, who helped give Keenan the space to beat Len Ikitau on his outside shoulder by holding his depth. 'No, delighted for Barry, I probably would have dropped it like the other one,' added Conan, in reference to the moment early on when James Slipper's tackle dislodged the ball from his grasp as he was diving over the line. 'No, it was knocked out of my hands lads. 'I was shouting for it, but Barry goes and scores a try. I've no complaints. If he bottled it there in that moment, I would have killed him and kicked the arse off him afterwards, but that was great.' Leinster being the bulk suppliers had generated quite a bit of debate, but Farrell's selections had been vindicated. 'As a Leinster man you're normally on the other end of it where you don't win them, so it was nice to be on the other side of it for once,' admitted Conan with a smile. 'Yeah it's class, just the feeling afterwards, the celebrations. Big Tadge (Tadhg Furlong) was giving it 90 on the sideline which was class and it was just unreal, part of a Lions winning series is just so special, to have played two 80 minutes. I'm not sure if I'll be playing next week after my performance but we'll see what happens, but yeah, absolutely class. 'You can't take these things away from people; [they] go down in history. I know people don't have the best things to say about Australia but I thought they were class today, they were unbelievable, they played above themselves. 'We saw Valetini and big Willie Skelton come back into the side, they were unbelievable. They made a huge difference and we struggled with it at times. A little bit high in the contacts, a little bit soaking, whatever else. But it doesn't matter, we got there in the end, didn't we. 'The win's a win. Series win; Lions series winner. You can't take that away from us, so I'm delighted for everyone. Delighted for the coaching staff, delighted for the lads who played, the lads who didn't play because everyone's played their part. Roll on the celebrations, roll on next week and one more 80 minutes to go and then a bit of well-earned time off.'
