Russell to take over coaching reins at Hawke?s Bay

Former Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Peter Russell just keeps on winning with news he has signed a two-year contract to lead Hawke's Bay in the Air New Zealand Cup.
Rugby insiders rated Wellington-based Russell an outside shot at the job, but his impressive record with Wairarapa-Bush was enough to edge out the competition including highly rated New Zealand women's coach Jed Rowlands.
Russell's three seasons with Wairarapa-Bush resulted in the team finishing runners-up in 2004 before winning the National Provincial Championship third division in 2005.
The team then went back-to-back by beating favourites Wanganui in the final of last year's inaugural Heartland Championship.
With such a striking resume on hand, Russell admits he was "pretty confident" of giving up his day job at the nearby power station Transfield Services.
And having only interviewed for the position on Monday, the dynamic coach has been left frantically reorganising his plans in preparation for family life in Napier.
"It's pretty hectic as you can imagine having to shift house and get the kids enrolled in new schools," he said.
"There's been a little bit of apprehension and a few tears but it's exciting as well and we'll greet the opportunity with open arms."
Making the decision to leave the Wairarapa-Bush side to advance his career was a "gut-wrenching" call, Russell said.
"It's the friendships you build in a place like Wairarapa that you miss the most. I'm born and bred there and I've put a lot into the community so it's tough to move on but that's also the exciting part of any new challenge. I've always had the ambition of being the All Black coach and I'm targeting that spot for the 2011 World Cup, along with 30-odd others I guess. But this is a good step in that direction and I'm looking forward to it."
With Hawkes Bay coming off a difficult reintroduction to the top flight in 2006, Russell is well aware he has his work cut out for him.
"It's all about getting in there and doing the hard yards with the players and pushing the team forwards.
"The fans don't expect us to claim the title but they expect us to perform and there's no reason we can't reach the play-offs at least," he said.
Hawke's Bay Rugby Football Union chief executive Mike Bishop said the union was delighted to have Russell on board for the next two seasons.
"We interviewed four guys for the job and Peter came across as the number one candidate. His CV was very impressive and it was clear that he'd put the building blocks in place to be a successful coach," he said.
"We (Hawke's Bay) had a solid start in 2006, finishing ninth, and we'd like to think Peter's the guy to take us that next step higher into a play-off spot."