A former Auckland and Northland prop, Nick has played Super Rugby for three different franchises. After hanging up his boots in 2008, he turned his attention to coaching in various roles for the Blues, Auckland and the New Zealand union.
The 41-year-old will continue in his role as the Blues scrum coach until the conclusion of Super Rugby, but will also be focusing his time on seeking to prepare a young and talented Auckland side, which has the ultimate goal of a win after playing in two finals over the last four seasons.
As the Blues forwards coach this year, with the promotion of Paul Feeney to the Blues assistant post under Tana Umaga, an opportunity arose for Nick to step up. And he'll come with knowledge; playing almost 100 games for the union, he knows the coaches, the players, the clubs and the schools landscape.
Nick has admitted that being a head coach has always been in the back of his mind, but he was content to wait for it to happen when it was meant to.
"I just wasn't in a rush. Sometimes I think coaches and players are always in a rush and you lose some of the learnings along the way. It's probably come at the right time and it's about seeing if I'm up to it. It's no good coming into these roles too early. If your performance is not up to it, you get bailed out at the other end."
Nick is up to the challenge of being a provincial coach, as he's clear about what he wants from his players.
"Getting the basics and skillsets right is key, especially for young guys. We have a lot of them in this union. If we get their skills, decision-making and rugby sense right, we have enough individual talent to go a long way to being successful."
We wish Nick all the best for his new role.
