The reasons why Kiwi Wayne Pivac is a good fit for Wales
The Welsh Rugby Union made the announcement on Monday that Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac will be the man to replace Warren Gatland after the 2019 Rugby World Cup, when Gatland moves on from the role he has held for 12 years.
Pivac will take the helm at the conclusion of the RWC and will continue to have the sole remit of coaching the Scarlets during the 2018/19 season, with the Kiwi only coming under the WRU’s jurisdiction once the coming season is over, when announcements on his backroom staff will also likely be made.
It’s impossible to have missed the stellar job that Pivac has done with the Scarlets, taking the Welsh region to the summit of the Guinness PRO12, as well as making them a force to contend with in Europe, all the whilst on a smaller budget than many of their Irish, English and French rivals.
Of course, he has been able to recruit from abroad in order to realise that meteoric rise, something which he won’t be able to do as Wales head coach – unless he’s willing to wait five years for the player to qualify – but it has been measured recruitment. Recruitment to supplement, rather than recruiting to build around.
The likes of Tadhg Beirne, Hadleigh Parkes and Jonny McNicholl have played key roles in the Scarlets’ recent success, but the bigger story has been what he has got out of the Welsh players under his tutelage, the majority of whom were already at the Scarlets when he arrived, as well as a handful who have been brought in from other regions.
James Davies and Liam Williams are two of the most prominent to flourish under Pivac, whilst the front-row of Rob Evans, Ken Owens and Samson Lee is a match for anyone in Europe, whether that’s at the set-piece or in the loose.
Who, hand on heart, saw Aaron Shingler becoming the player he is now when Pivac was hired back in 2014? Steff Evans, Gareth Davies, Jake Ball, the list goes on.
The WRU will expect him to bring that same ability to get the most out of the players at his disposal to the national job and whilst an international gig is obviously a very different beast to the demands of a PRO14 job, it is perhaps one which is getting less different by the year.
The reason why Pivac is such a good hire – to this writer, at the least – is that he is an extremely good fit for the direction in which international rugby is moving.
The old adages about club and international rugby being poles apart are still somewhat true and it is why players who are excelling in the PRO14, Premiership or Top 14 aren’t automatically successes at Test level or, in some instances, aren’t even picked.
The gap is narrowing, though. Not necessarily in terms of quality, but in terms of the style of rugby played.
It really wasn’t that long ago that you could win an international game with a strong scrum and an accurate goal-kicker. Changes to the engagement sequence, the desire for props to play an all-court game and the general shift in attitude towards teams wanting to play heads-up, high tempo attacking rugby, has ended that as a realistic possibility or philosophy on which to build a team.
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Given that the source of your players is the club game, it’s only natural that the playing style at Test level would begin to match that of the competitions in which the players play week in, week out. It’s no different to the NFL, where America’s showpiece sporting competition has adopted the spread offence with such gusto, something which is rife at the collegiate level, where the NFL sides replenish their playing pool from each year. At its core, this is simply seeking to play to the strengths of your own players.
International rugby is not as loose as the club game and won’t be for some time, if it ever is at all, but that is the direction of the shift we are seeing at Test level. Finding a coach that will thrive in that environment is paramount and Pivac ticks that box emphatically.
He also brings a knowledge of the current Wales team, the squads of the four regions and the emerging stars coming through the WRU’s age-grade pathway that no coach based outside of Wales could possibly have.
You can already predict the temporary outrage from Ospreys, Cardiff Blues and Dragons fans when Pivac picks his first Scarlets-heavy squad, but it is temporary and will soon dissipate as he either begins to win games or gets those players from the other three regions into a training camp and explains what he needs them to do for them to feature in future squads.
He will have to adapt, of course. He can’t come in and expect Wales to play like the Scarlets and have immediate success, even if the international game is becoming a more fluid, high-tempo entity.
The blueprint is there for how he can make Wales a more consistently clinical side with ball-in-hand, but until he can get the group up to speed with one another and his expectations, there will be certain situations where he will have to diverge, significantly, from what he demands of the Scarlets.
Less running it from deep, some opportunities at three points that can’t be turned down and potentially some adjustments at the contact area, but it shouldn’t be a problem for a coach of his calibre.
This idea that attacking-minded coaches are idealistic dreamers whose domain is club rugby is highly suspect, with the majority of them every bit as pragmatic as the eldest of old school defence and forwards coaches. After all, five or seven points is more than three, right? And more points win you more games, right?
He knows the international arena, too, having coached Fiji for three years and the five seasons he will have spent with Scarlets come the start of his tenure with Wales will have prepared him well for the realities of northern hemisphere international rugby, in particular.
What Wales have got themselves following the RWC next year is a progressive and intelligent coach, who knows the players at his disposal, is aware of the young stars about to break into senior rugby and who is the perfect fit, stylistically, for the evolving international game.
Identifying that person, securing them and being able to put in place concrete transitional plans over a year out from its implementation, is a very adept piece of businesses from the WRU.
The onus is now on the Scarlets to find themselves as good a coach as they did when Simon Easterby left for Ireland back in 2014.
Comments on RugbyPass
This is might be the most generalised, entitled, patronising, out-of-pocket cultural indictment on a group of people you’ll ever see on what is supposedly a sports publication. I can only assume the author is weak like a woman or homosexual. I’m feeling an incredible range of emotions but I am not quite sure how to express them. I might go beat up a hockey player - assuming that’s okay with Duane and the boys? 🙂
9 Go to commentsBest thing the Welsh clubs could do is apply to join Gallagher prem surely be more exciting matches for there support than they have now.
2 Go to commentsRugbyPass writers are useless! you guys should get a real job because you all suck at writing about rugby!!!
9 Go to commentslooking forward to RWC2027 …. Boks on mission impossible for the Three-in-a-row, ABs to prove they being on par, France wishing to crown the “DuPont-era”, Ireland knocking on the Semi-Door ….. until then we’ll probably have to deal with Weird Ben’s fantasy-RWC23 (fun fact is, the drivel always creates a flooding of comments) …..
221 Go to commentsBen Smith you really make some good points in this article, the Springboks were not close to perfect and good still beat the All Blacks, imagine if they were as good as they were against France what a hiding the All Blacks would have gotten… maybe another Twickenham drubbing
221 Go to commentsIt is a good argument to keep the Rebels for one more year but also isnt this just opening the door as well for keeping them beyond 2025. If they can create some sort of financial stability in the next year and if their performances lift as they have this season then how would RA even cull them after that? It might be the most cost effective decision at this stage and perhaps many people are guilty of keeping relationships going because of the cost to decouple but then again when does that ever work out well?
24 Go to commentsDear Ben Smith you are a genius! God please become the next all blacks coach that can take on the mighty BOKS. Your rugby acumen is second to none - imagine your dads sperm bounced as unfortunately as that oval ball did….we would not be blessed with your presence. Just as the all blacks were missing a man you too are missing a chromosome for 80% of your life, so your insights are not only profound but ring true from your own experiences. Just as the TMO interfered with citing an illegal pass I am sure your local authorities interfere with your illegal passes you make on women - How dare they!!! God forbid that rugby be officiated fairly. You are the right man for the job. Next all blacks coach is here ladies and gentlemen Miss Ben Smith (He/She/They/IT)
221 Go to commentsHuge engine this guy and great to see him back ..The amount of clean outs he does at the ruck are ridiculous !!
3 Go to commentsThe level of desperation in this article is just embarrassing.
221 Go to commentsSome silly trolling in the comments.
9 Go to commentsEverywhere you turn some irish journo is advocating Ireland as the greatest, reasoning that the wc is a 4 year cycle event so, they say wc doesn’t matter it’s the rugby in between that should account for the accolade. If there was no wc then some substance could be gained, however in my opinion the moment that defined Ireland’s fate against the abs was 37 phases of repeated head bashing against a brick wall. If a change in strategy or a tinker with the game plan was executed then things could've been vastly different. And to point a finger the let down was in the hands of the number 10.
64 Go to commentsI have heard it asked if RA is essentially one of the part owners and I suppose therefor should be on the other side of these two parties. If they purchased the rebels and guaranteed them, and are responsible enough they incur Rebels penalties, where is this line drawn? Seems rough to have to pay a penalty for something were your involvement sees you on the side of the conned party, the creditors. If the Rebels directors themselves have given the club their money, 6mil worth right, why aren’t they also listed as sitting with RA and the Tax office? And the legal threat was either way, new Rebels or defunct, I can’t see how RA assume the threat was less likely enough to warrant comment about it in this article. Surely RA ignore that and only worry about whether they can defend it or not, which they have reported as being comfortable with. So in effect wouldn’t it be more accurate to say there is no further legal threat (or worry) in denying the deal. Unless the directors have reneged on that. > Returns of a Japanese team or even Argentinean side, the Jaguares, were said to be on the cards, as were the ideas of standing up brand new teams in Hawaii or even Los Angeles – crazy ideas that seemingly forgot the time zone issues often cited as a turn-off for viewers when the competition contained teams from South Africa. Those timezones are great for SR and are what will probably be needed to unlock its future (cant see it remaining without _atleast _help from Aus), day games here are night games on the West Coast of america, were potential viewers triple, win win. With one of the best and easiest ways to unlock that being to play games or a host a team there. Less good the further across Aus you get though. Jaguares wouldn’t be the same Jaguares, but I still would think it’s better having them than keeping the Rebels. The other options aren’t really realistic 25’ options, no. From reading this authors last article I think if the new board can get the investment they seem to be confident in, you keeping them simply for the amount of money they’ll be investing in the game. Then ditch them later if they’re not good enough without such a high budget. Use them to get Jaguares reintergration stronger, with more key players on board, and have success drive success.
24 Go to commentsYeah, and ours is waaay bigger than yours. Just as you's get a semi…oh hold on that never happens
64 Go to commentsLove watching
1 Go to commentsThe Melbourne Rebels lineout is a complete disaster so not surprisingly a kiwi coach of the Wallabies hires the worst lineout coach in the country and a foreigner to boot. No surprises whatsoever here…….
6 Go to commentsThank your for wasting 2 minutes of my life Daniel. There is a useful message in there somewhere but your delivery sucks.
9 Go to commentsBen Smith, you are cry baby
221 Go to commentsSux that homophobia is still a thing though. I wonder how many players who could have become legends never kept playing rugby because they felt unwelcome.
9 Go to commentsCrazy he’s only 28, feel like he’s been around forever - don’t mind the move, safe pair of hands and creates depth in a thin position for ABs. Hopefully aides Kemara’s growth also without thrusting too much responsibility on him
1 Go to commentsMen should show strength and be mean, but they should be able to show emotion to those close yo them in certain times, birth of your child, death of family, proud moment. This article is stupid
9 Go to comments