Need an international head coach? The Guinness PRO14 is your first stop
The start of the next four-year cycle building up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France is gathering momentum to the view that the Guinness PRO14 has become a final transit point for club and provincial coaches set for a bigger stage.
Dave Rennie (Australia), Wayne Pivac (Wales) and Franco Smith (Italy) are among the international head coaching debutants we will see heading up national teams when the 2020 rugby year rolls into view. All three of them head into the Test arena directly from the PRO14, just as Rassie Erasmus, Joe Schmidt, Gregor Townsend and others did before them.
Rennie is of course the headline act. When Michael Cheika, who himself coached Leinster in the PRO 14 when it was still the PRO 12, resigned in the aftermath of the Wallabies defeat to England in their World Cup quarterfinal, there was intense focus on who would replace him in one of the top jobs in world rugby.
Australia didn’t waste too much time in naming Cheika’s replacement. While the New Zealand succession plan that has been so admired by other nations has become mired in a process that some consider a bit drawn out, Rennie is now ensconced as the Wallabies’ second Kiwi coach. Former successful Crusaders coach and All Black assistant Robbie Deans was the first.
While Rennie spent several years coaching the New Zealand franchise, the Chiefs, in Super Rugby, like Erasmus before him he would have considered his stint as head coach of Glasgow Warriors as a form of finishing school for the Wallaby job. The Guinness PRO14, as World Cup winning Springbok coach Erasmus said during the tournament, offers a diversity of opponent and conditions that you don’t get in any other provincial, regional or club competition.
A two time Super Rugby winner with the Chiefs, Rennie moved to Scotland at the start of the 2017/2018 season. He never quite matched the success of his predecessor, Gregor Townsend, himself now an international coach with Scotland, by winning the PRO 14, but then it is hard to keep Leinster away from silverware in their current form. Glasgow did make the 2018/2019 final under Rennie after displaying imperious form for most of the league phase of the season, and a record crowd for PRO 14 saw Leinster pip them in the final at Celtic Park.
PRO14 U23 squads: Which side's future is the brightest? – RugbyPass https://t.co/Z1PSgBk4cs
— Laighin Pit (@LaighinPit) July 1, 2019
The year before that Rennie’s team were beaten in the semi-final by Scarlets, who happened to be coached by someone he will lock horns with now on the international stage – Pivac. Another New Zealander, Pivac was announced over a year ago as the successor to Warren Gatland as head coach of Wales, which is why Pivac has moved on from the Scarlets, who he famously coached to the PRO 14 title in 2017.
Former Springbok player and assistant coach Smith was announced six days ago as the Italy interim coach, although he made the decision to leave the Toyota Cheetahs in mid-year he made it clear it was to take up the lead role with the Six Nations team on a more permanent basis.
"In the first season the Cheetahs played in the PRO14 they won just one game away and lost just one at home and that was enough." https://t.co/x424Mh2CuU
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 25, 2019
Smith of course has a long history in the PRO 14, first with Italian team Treviso between 2007 and 2013, and latterly as the director of rugby and head coach of the Cheetahs team he was playing for when he was first selected for the Boks under the coaching of Nick Mallett in 1997.
With Jacques Nienaber, who coached with Erasmus at Munster, likely to take over the head coach role with the Boks, but director of rugby Erasmus still set to stay on as the chief honcho who calls the shots, several of next year’s international battles will be fought by coaches who got to know each other well when pitting their wits against each other in the Guinness PRO14.
– PRO14/Brendan Nel
Comments on RugbyPass
This article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
1 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
29 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
226 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
226 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
18 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
18 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to comments