{"id":284236,"date":"2026-02-14T19:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T19:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/284236\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T19:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T19:10:12","slug":"super-rugby-pacific-chiefs-coachs-message-to-highlanders-bound-josh-jacomb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/284236\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Rugby Pacific: Chiefs coach\u2019s message to Highlanders-bound Josh Jacomb"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a result, Jacomb will trade Hamilton for Dunedin in 2027<\/a>, after inking a two-year deal with the Highlanders that will undoubtedly give him the keys to lead a team at Super Rugby level.<\/p>\n

That move, though, does leave the Chiefs between a rock and hard place as to how to use Jacomb in 2026.<\/p>\n

On one hand, they still have a player that can grow into a competition standout. On the other, they\u2019d be in effect developing a playmaker that could come back to haunt them from 2027 onwards.<\/p>\n

But asked about that delicate balance for 2026, Gibbes outlined exactly how he feels at losing one of Super Rugby\u2019s brightest talents, to a rival. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to make him regret his decision every day,\u201d he said. \u201cThat he loves the Chiefs, he loves the environment, he\u2019s getting awesome coaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can put him in doubt over his decision \u2013 because we rate him, we really like where he\u2019s at with his game, I really like the person \u2013 I want to put positive pressure on him, that way.\u201d <\/p>\n

While a blow for the Chiefs, Jacomb\u2019s departure is only good news for the All Blacks and New Zealand rugby on the whole.<\/p>\n

In a position that has proven troublesome<\/a>, with neither Beauden Barrett nor McKenzie able to seize the No 10 jersey outright before Richie Mo\u2019unga\u2019s return from Japan, Jacomb getting regular minutes at Super Rugby level could lead to an unlikely push at a 2027 World Cup place. <\/p>\n

The Chiefs got the first example of what Jacomb could do against them on Saturday night, in a hard-fought 19-15 victory over the Blues<\/a> at Eden Park to open their season.<\/p>\n

While the win was no case of individual brilliance on Jacomb\u2019s part, the youngster showed incredible composure in deputising for McKenzie, absent on paternity leave.<\/p>\n

In 80 minutes, Jacomb kicked a vital 50-22 that led to the Chiefs\u2019 first try and kicked two conversions, to go with seven tackles, and 30 running metres with ball in hand.<\/p>\n

And for Gibbes, who\u2019s now ticked off his first win as Chiefs coach since succeeding Clayton McMillan<\/a>, Saturday\u2019s win was just a sign of what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he met expectations, to be honest,\u201d said Gibbes. \u201cHe was the Duane Monkley [medal] winner in the NPC, he had great experience with the All Blacks XV in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince January, since he\u2019s been in, he\u2019s continued to progress. It\u2019s a key position, there\u2019s a lot of responsibility there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout the week, his messaging, his direction he gave the players was really accurate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t an armchair for him, that\u2019s for sure. But his growth out of that 80 minutes will be massive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Powell<\/a> is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As a result, Jacomb will trade Hamilton for Dunedin in 2027, after inking a two-year deal with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[18516,158527,26985,17909,1320,158524,158528,158526,158525,52361,111656,1433,11556,5338,6096,111,43,139,69,13572,6327,313,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-284236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-18516","9":"tag-annoyance","10":"tag-bones","11":"tag-chiefs","12":"tag-coach","13":"tag-coachs","14":"tag-firstfive","15":"tag-gibbes","16":"tag-highlandersbound","17":"tag-jacomb","18":"tag-jono","19":"tag-josh","20":"tag-losing","21":"tag-makes","22":"tag-message","23":"tag-new-zealand","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-newzealand","26":"tag-nz","27":"tag-pacific","28":"tag-rugby","29":"tag-super","30":"tag-to"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}