Clark Laidlaw (born 16 July 1977) is currently the head coach of the New Zealand national rugby sevens team. Laidlaw was appointed as All Blacks Sevens Head Coach in 2017.
Biography
Laidlaw is the son of former British & Irish Lions and Scotland international rugby union player Roy Laidlaw. His cousin, Greig Laidlaw, also represented the British & Irish Lions and Scotland. He represented Scotland internationally in sevens and moved to New Zealand in 2008.
Coaching Career
Laidlaw became the Skills Coach for Taranaki in 2010 then became the Skills Coach and Video Analyst with the New Zealand sevens team under Sir Gordon Tietjens from 2010 to 2012. He made the move back to the 15-aside game, as the Assistant Coach of the Hurricanes from 2013 to 2015. He was also Assistant Coach of the London Irish.
In 2018, a year after becoming Head Coach of the All Blacks Sevens, New Zealand won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens.
In 2020, Laidlaw guided the All Blacks Sevens to win the World Rugby Sevens Series and in 2021, a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics.