Former Waratah joins Blues coaching set-up

Experienced Super Rugby player and coach, Daniel Halangahu will follow his North Harbour coach Tom Coventry to join the Blues for the next two years.

Halangahu will complete his third year as an assistant coach with North Harbour before joining the Blues as the specialist Skills and Lead Backs Coach.

The 34-year-old played 74 games for the Waratahs in Super Rugby as a first-five or fullback to 2012 before spending the next three years playing in Italy and France. He moved to New Zealand in 2015 to play for North Harbour and then took up an assistant coaching role there in 2016, where he has also been involved as a coaching educator for the union.

Blues coach Tana Umaga said Halangahu will play a key role with the team.

“He has developed some really strong working relationships already with some of our players who are at North Harbour, and he has done an excellent job with our Under-20s players. Dan will be a real asset in terms of coaching our kickers and will be important in working with our young group of first-fives.”

Blues General Manager High Performance, Tony Hanks said Halangahu’s skillset complements that of the other coaches already signed for the club.

“Dan knows us well and has been involved in and around our club for the last three years coaching our Under 18s and Under 20s and he has been fully engaged with our development activities.

“He has a specific skillset which is important for us, especially to develop the skills of a young playing group and of course has a close relationship already with our forwards coach Tom Coventry.”