Bay of Plenty rugby's head coaching vacancy is down to a shortlist of five and should be filled by the end of the week - with two former All Blacks in the running for the job.
Bay of Plenty Rugby Union chief executive Mike Rogers was yesterday staying tightlipped on who the five coaching candidates who were interviewed were, but the shortlist is believed to include former All Blacks loose forwards Scott Robertson, based in Christchurch and involved in Canterbury's winning ITM Cup campaign this year, and Tauranga-based Kevin Schuler.
Former Steamers skipper Clayton McMillan, former Steamers halfback Milton Haig and Kingsley Jones, Russia's coach at the Rugby World Cup, have also been interviewed for the position.
Rogers was hopeful they'd be able to make a decision today. "From there it's a matter of having a discussion with the successful applicant and working through that process. We had just over 20 applications and we're pretty happy with the quality."
If Bay of Plenty were looking to cover the spectrum in their hunt for a head coach to replace Sean Horan, who walked away from the job after Bay made the top four in the ITM Cup this year, then it's a plan they've executed perfectly.
Roberton is Mt Maunganui born and raised and is a 23-test All Black who played for the Super Rugby championship-winning Crusaders before stints with Perpignan in France and Ricoh Black Rams in Japan. Since coming back to New Zealand he's coached out of Christchurch's Sumner club.
Haig is a former Southland and Bay of Plenty halfback who was assistant coach to Vern Cotter with Bay of Plenty in 2002 before leaving to coach Wanganui and latterly Counties-Manukau in the ITM Cup.
Schuler had a six-year tenure with the Bay - firstly as a technical adviser, then as assistant coach, then as head coach in 2007 and 2008 - before leaving to rejoin Japanese club Yamaha. The four-test All Black was technical adviser with the Chiefs last season.
McMillan played 113 games for Bay of Plenty, played in Japan and has had coaching stints with Whakarewarewa, Bay of Plenty under-20 and Marist St Patricks since returning.
Kingsley Jones played 10 times for Wales between 1996 and 1998 and played club rugby for Pontypridd, Worcester and Gloucester. The 42-year-old has coached Doncaster and Sale but left in February to lead Russia to the Rugby World Cup.
Bay of Plenty's high performance manager, Paul Feeney, applied for the head coaching job but didn't get an interview. He and Horan had a well-publicised falling out this season and wouldn't have worked together next season had Horan stayed, but the former Fiji coach is keen to remain involved next season as assistant coach.
"I'm not in the mix for the [top] job - I applied and didn't get the nod. I'd like to stay involved and I'd imagine the new head coach can pick whoever he wants, so if I'm compatible we'll go from there."
Rogers said Feeney's involvement next season would depend on who the new head coach was. "Paul did a good job this year and the feedback on him working through the review process was positive, which translated in the way the backs played this year. We don't know where he fits in yet simply because we need to appoint a head coach and then see what sort of skills they need with an assistant, [but] if we appoint a backs coach as head coach then that changes the dynamics of what is needed with an assistant."
Bay of Plenty are the second-to-last ITM Cup province to secure a coach for next season after Haig's involvement with Counties ended a week ago. Rogers is comfortable with the situation but aware it couldn't be left to drag on.