KEY POINTS:
Wayne Pivac could be set for a rapid return to rugby - as coach of North Harbour.
The former Auckland NPC-winning coach announced he was quitting as Fiji coach on Friday, just eight months out from the World Cup.
The Herald on Sunday understands he has been offered
the coaching position at the Ranfurly Shield holders and will take the job.
That scenario would mean no return for Allan Pollock, who would go down as one of the few coaches to be dumped from his job in the midst of a Shield tenure.
Pollock was asked to reapply for his job at the end of the season. The previous year, his relationship with several senior players and assistant coach Mark Anscombe - now in charge of Northland - came under the microscope.
Pollock did not return calls yesterday.
In another twist, it is also understood national sevens coach Gordon Tietjens was set to take the role until negotiations broke down just before he signed. Tietjens wanted to continue coaching the sevens team in 2007, which Harbour were happy to accommodate, but the sticking point was rumoured to be Tietjens' reluctance to move to the province from his Bay of Plenty base.
After the Tietjens talks broke down, Harbour turned to Pivac, who told NZPA on Friday that he wanted to return to New Zealand for family reasons.
"At the end of the day, it hasn't worked out for the family," he said, also saying he was "putting out some feelers" for a new job.
North Harbour chief executive Brett Hollister, in response to Herald on Sunday inquiries last week, said he was aware of speculation surrounding Tietjens but was not prepared to comment further.
"We will be making an announcement by the end of the month," Hollister said.
Another name to enter the frame in recent days has been Wayne Shelford. Buck is back and told the Herald on Sunday he wants to coach but has not been in talks with the union he captained when it formed in 1985.
"I'm interested in anything and everything," Shelford said. "I haven't talked with anybody [at Harbour] about that position," he said. "I don't know what they're doing. They're still in talks with the other coaches as far as I'm aware."
Shelford has held the reins at Harbour before, in 1998, where he famously opened his trainings and match day to a fly-on-the-wall documentary which highlighted his prowess with some of the less printable aspects of the English language.
Shelford, whose coaching career also included a stint with Northampton, said he would happily look elsewhere.
"If somebody takes that position, then there's always others out there."