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Unwanted ABs assistant lands Six Nations job Kings move into T20 lead toppling Stags

At a glance

Brendon Egan

Sacked All Blacks assistant coach Brad Mooar has got himself a new international gig.

Mooar is set to join Scotland as an attack coach on a consultancy basis for the looming Six Nations, which kicks off next weekend.

In addition to forwards coach John Plumtree, Mooar lost his assistant coaching job with the All Blacks after their historic home series loss to Ireland last year.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has also brought in Glasgow Warriors skills coach and former Scottish international Peter Horne in a similar role to Mooar.

Townsend would still be in charge of the attack, but will have a couple of extra sets of eyes to assist him.

‘‘Pete Horne is going to come in. He has a couple of areas he is going to work with. He has done really well with Glasgow and he is still with Glasgow, but they don’t play for the first two rounds,’’ he said.

‘‘Brad Mooar is coming in for the whole championship. Brad was the Scarlets’ head coach and was with the All Blacks until August. He will come in on a consultancy role, and we will see what that looks like.’’

Townsend said Mooar’s role wouldn’t solely entail rugby strategy, and the 48-year-old’s experience with the All Blacks – he worked under Scott Robertson at the Crusaders before that – would be leaned on.

‘‘He was involved in the three-test series against Ireland. In the first test, a couple of coaches got Covid, so I think he maybe led the programme that day.

‘‘He is someone who has had a lot of experience at both club and test level.’’

Gregor Townsend

Mooar coached Welsh club Scarlets in 2019-20, before All Blacks coach Ian Foster asked him to be his attack coach.

It was initially reported New Zealand Rugby may have had to shell out $400,000 to dig Mooar out of his contract.

Scotland face England at Twickenham in their Six Nations opener.

Chad Bowes has powered the Canterbury Kings to the top of the T20 Super Smash table, hitting the highest individual score of the men’s season.

Bowes delivered a batting clinic on a balmy afternoon at Hagley Oval as the Kings yesterday thumped previous leaders, the Central Stags, by 58 runs.

Canterbury’s fourth win on the trot lifts them to the Super Smash summit with the Kings having two round games left, both against Otago. Win those and Canterbury would earn an automatic spot in the February 11 final, avoiding the February 9 elimination final.

To think the Kings remain without Black Caps Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Ish Sodhi, and Henry Shipley – showcasing the depth in the squad.

Opener Bowes set up the win for Canterbury, blazing 89 from 52 balls in a stylish innings, which included 12 fours and three sixes.

Leo Carter was also in the runs, smashing an unbeaten 70 from 45 balls – teaming up for a 104-run second wicket stand with Bowes.

Bowes and Carter’s eye-catching batting got Canterbury through to 189-3 from their 20 overs, a total Central never threatened.

The Stags’ run chase started poorly with Will O’Rourke removing Bayley Wiggins and danger man Will Young within the space of three balls in his first over – the second of the innings.

Central slumped to 30-4 in the sixth over and never recovered.

At Hagley Oval, Christchurch: Canterbury Kings 189-3 from 20 overs (Chad Bowes 89 off 52 balls, Leo Carter 70no off 45 balls) beat Central Stags 131-9 from 20 overs (Will Clark 44no off 36 balls; Zak Foulkes 3-22 off four overs, Will O’Rourke 2-25 off four overs) by 58 runs.

The visitors’ batting was weakened, missing retired Black Caps legend Ross Taylor, who injured his groin at training on Thursday.

Bowes struck the highest score of the men’s T20 season, overtaking Carter (88 not out), but would have been gutted not to bring up his first T20 ton.

It was some knock from Bowes, who scored his runs all around the ground and produced some smart reverse sweeps for boundaries.

Bowes, who became the competition’s leading run-scorer this season during his innings, made it look easy, timing the ball sweetly.

The former South African under19 captain, moved to Christchurch in 2015 and has been a reliable performer for Canterbury in recent summers. Eligible for the Black Caps, his T20 form this season will surely be drawing attention from New Zealand men’s selector Gavin Larsen.

A 23-run final over off the bowling of Brett Randell propelled the Kings to a formidable 189-3.

Canterbury looked set for a score of around 200 after an excellent start, where they were 95-1 after 10 overs.

Bowes and Carter combined for a century partnership from 61 balls with Bowes providing the bulk of the scoring, accumulating 70.

‘‘He will come in on a consultancy role, and we will see what that looks like.’’

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2023-01-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

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