Written by - John Haggart

Canterbury Rugby Union International High Performance Unit Manager

John Haggart has been involved in a coaching capacity in one form or another since his teaching career at Dunedin’s King’s High School from the mid-1980s, where current All Black prop Carl Hayman was among his pupils. The former long-serving Otago first-five-eighths got formally involved within the New Zealand age-group system from 1994, assisting with both the national Under-19s and Under-21s. He also coached the Dunedin senior side in 1998-99 and the Otago B representative side for the same period before taking up a three-year contract as head coach of the Sanix club in Japan. Haggart returned to Dunedin to join the Otago coaching staff in 2004, acting as assistant coach in 2004 and 2005 while also filling the role as Highlanders defence coach. Otago made the NPC final in Haggart’s second year, twice beating Canterbury during that season. He joined the Canterbury coaching staff in 2006. As a player, Haggart kicked off his senior representative career in 1983, and ‘retired’ a happy man at the end of the 1991 season with 119 appearances and Otago’s first NPC title to his name. He coached Canterbury to Air New Zealand Cup success in 2008 along with Rob Penney.