'It was my decision' - Pivac takes responsibility for sacking of Wales defence coach
Wayne Pivac says that it was his decision surrounding Byron Hayward’s departure from the Wales coaching set-up. Hayward, who was appointed to the defence coach role last year, has left ahead of Wales’ Autumn Nations Cup opener against Ireland in Dublin on Friday.
Wales head coach Pivac said: “The decision in relation to Byron was one that he and I sat down and discussed, and it was a decision that I took.
“It was my decision, and I informed the necessary people at the appropriate time.”
Hayward, 51, was part of Pivac’s coaching team that began work together after the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
But Wales have won just two games out of seven under Warren Gatland’s successor, including a run of five successive defeats that consigned Wales to their worst Six Nations campaign for 13 years.
And life is not about to get any easier, with Ireland and recently-crowned Six Nations champions England among their Nations Cup opponents.
“It was a very healthy and honest conversation, and we just felt now was the time going into this new Autumn Nations Cup series that the time was right for us to make that change,” Pivac added.
Ireland's captain has had a word with their under-fire fullback.https://t.co/T2oTYL13Ox
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 9, 2020
“We looked at what was best going forward to the World Cup in 2023, and we felt that we weren’t getting what we wanted from our defence, and so the change has been made.”
Former Wales prop Gethin Jenkins, who recently joined Pivac’s coaching staff as replacement for Sam Warburton, will be given increased defensive responsibility.
Pivac said: “Gethin will step up and take some more responsibility with the defence.
“We’ve got a very experienced person in Mark Kinnaird who worked with Shaun (former Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards) for a number of years as the head analyst for the defence. It will be a collection of thoughts going into that process.
“We will certainly be looking and seeing what is out there and what is available and the sorts of people interested.
“With this sort of thing, a few names have come across the desk already, so that’s something we will be looking at at the end of this competition.”
Get your questions in as @SimonZebo @ryanwilson89 and @Jamiehuwroberts join @ChristinaMahonx on RugbyPass Offload this week. #RPOffload pic.twitter.com/s0w4C9B4kX
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 9, 2020
Asked if players had any issues with Hayward, Pivac added: “I am continually talking to players on a daily basis over what we do in terms of the attack, the defence, the whole lot.
“In the case of Byron, we have worked together closely and he is a friend away from the game.
“It’s a tough conversation, but one where we both respect each other’s views, and it was a mutual agreement that basically what we are doing is putting the team first. Everything we do is always put the team first, and that is certainly what we have done.
“We have got to do what we think is best at the time. It was a very hard, tough decision to make, but we’ve made it and we stand by it.”
Pivac, meanwhile, confirmed that flankers Justin Tipuric and Ross Moriarty are both in training after Tipuric missed the Scotland Six Nations defeat nine days ago because of tonsillitis, while Moriarty has been nursing an ankle injury.
Prop Samson Lee, fly-half Dan Biggar and wing Louis Rees-Zammit are also training, although Pivac said that the Ireland game “might be a bit of a 50-50” for flanker Josh Navidi, who has been recovering from concussion.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments