During 2022 the axe fell on coaches John Plumtree and Brad Mooar in the All Blacks. What did the last round of autumn tests in Europe do for the fortunes of other international coaches?
The amazing master of illusion
England’s players were booed off the pitch at Twickenham after beingsoundly beaten, 27-13 by South Africa.
What does this mean for England’s rugby coach, Fast Eddie Jones? Maybe not much. He seems to have an almost hypnotic power over his boardroom masters at Twickenham. His trump card is shouting “look over there” as he points to next year’s World Cup, diverting attention from the fact England’s forward pack has now been scrummed off the park by both the All Blacks and the Springboks.
From the day he started coaching the Brumbies in 1998, Jones, a former hooker himself, has loved the roar of a Mack truck pack. Right now the men in white up front are more like a rusty Morris Minor.
At the start of this year Wales finished last in the Six Nations competition. They even lost to Italy, 22-21. Now they’ve been whipped 55-23 by New Zealand, lost to Georgia 13-12, and blown a 21 point lead to lose to the Wallabies, 39-34, in Cardiff.
Given the pressure he’s under you kind of admire the cry of defiance from coach Wayne Pivac, who, quizzed about his future after the Australian loss, said, “I’m contracted through to the next World Cup.”
If it wasn’t exactly a Winston Churchill “We shall never surrender” moment, it might prove just as prescient.
The Welsh Rugby Union has bounced back from losses in the Covid pandemic, and last month announced a $6 million profit for 2021-22. But replacing a contracted coaching team is an expensive business. If he survives to the Six Nations in February (and it’s possible he may not) we should see Pivac become the third Kiwi, after Steve Hansen and Warren Gatland, to coach Wales at a World Cup.
CARDIFF, WALES - JULY 17: Wales's Head Coach Wayne Pivac during the pre match warm up during the Rugby Summer Series match between Wales and Argentina at Principality Stadium on July 17, 2021 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Ian Cook - CameraSport via Getty Images)
I think he’s got Dave Rennie’s back
After the Wallabies remarkable comeback victory in Cardiff, Hamish McLennan, the chairman of the Australian Rugby Union, fired off a supportive text, applauding the fact the team had “found some Australian junkyard dog to win.”
Before the Welsh test, Rennie’s men were facing a fourth straight loss, and potentially the worst season for the Wallabies since 1958. They actually haven’t been remotely as bad as that sounds. From the weirdness of the time-wasting penalty that cost them the test with the All Blacks in Melbourne, to coming agonisingly close to beating France in Paris, to holding Ireland to 13-10 in Dublin, the loss to Italy in Florence was the only truly rubbish Australian result in 2022.
I’d tip Rennie to be another Kiwi head coach at the Cup in France.
Dave Rennie's job is on the line. Photo / Photosport
Will the real coach please stand up?
Even by the weird political standards of South African rugby this has been a standout year, with their director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, banned from the test at Twickenham for yet again trolling referees.
Erasmus coached the 2019 World Cup champions. Now the coach is officially Jacques Nienaber, but given that Erasmus appears to have the same emotional boundaries as a toddler who’s just gorged on white sugar, I think we can presume that Nienaber will be getting advice from Erasmus that will sound like instructions.
Meanwhile, in Dublin and Paris
The Six Nations may shake things up, but right now Ireland’s Andy Farrell, and France’s Fabien Galthie are sitting comfortably as leaders of the coaching pack. Farrell, the hugely grounded Lancashireman, has a contract through to 2025, and his only concern for next year might be that without first-five Johnny Sexton, who’ll be 38 at the World Cup, Ireland looked a little directionless against the Wallabies.
And Galthie? You warm to him more on discovering that his huge black-rimmed glasses are not an affectation but heavyweight sports glasses because he kept breaking normal ones. “My Mom doesn’t like it,” he told a French interviewer. “My children don’t say anything, they are nice to their Daddy.”
