Rugby: The making of Wales coach Wayne Pivac - 'His man-management was second to none'

Wayne Pivac. Photo / Photosport

From policeman to head coach of Wales, the Kiwi has left indelible mark at every stage of his journey, writes The Telegraph's James Corrigan

From patrolling on the north shore of Auckland to marshalling on the banks of the River Taff, Wayne Pivac's journey to Wales coach has been a story of strong relationships and lifelong friendships.

And it is the 57-year-old's inclusive character that will make so many root for Pivac in his Six Nations bow against Italy this weekend.

Talking to some of those who enjoyed front-row seats to watch Pivac's rise it became obvious that here was a figure who left an impression. "The best man-manager I ever worked with," said former All Black Xavier Rush. "Those four years under Wayne were the best of my career," said the former Scottish captain John Barclay. "I never enjoyed my rugby more than when he was in charge," said Fiji's most capped player, Nicky Little.

To a man, they all laughed at Eddie Jones's barbs about the crippling pressure of following Warren Gatland. "Is Eddie serious?" Rush said. "Wayne was a copper on the beat before going into coaching. He carried a gun to do that job and even in the worst-case scenario he won't need one of those in Wales."

Barclay concurred. "Someone compared Gatland leaving to Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford and Wayne coming into this impossible job," he said. "That's nonsense, to be fair. Yeah, Gatland did great and there will be a degree of nervousness in Wales. But Wayne can handle it. He's been around, he knows the tricks."

PC Pivac became Coach Pivac in 1996 at Northland. By then, his playing career had been cut short due to injury and after he and fellow policeman Steve Hansen oversaw the police team, he branched out on his own at Takapuna, before returning to former club North Harbour to guide the second XV. Northland was his shot at the big league. It was there where he met Norm Maxwell, the 20-year-old lock who went on to win 36 caps for New Zealand.

"I didn't know too much about Wayne but it soon became clear he wanted to build something bigger than a rugby team who were in the Second Division of the National Provincial Championship and whose glory days had gone ," Maxwell said. "Northlands is the most northern region and it has something a mythical status as the birthplace of New Zealand, where Kupe, the great Hawaiki chief, arrived on his canoe to discover the land. Wayne bought into this and made the team buy into the culture.

"His man-management was second to none; he was as good as talking to the local Maori leaders as he was with a young second rower with big dreams. Northland won the division and were promoted. No, it was not too big a surprise when Graham Henry lured him to Auckland."

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac and captain Alun Wyn Jones. Photo / Photosport

It was a matter of months before Henry was appointed as Wales coach, but in the new assistant, Auckland had the ideal replacement. "I remember when I first met him and thought 'he's a bit sure of himself'," Rush said. "But I couldn't have been more wrong. We had great days and although everybody thinks it's the Super Rugby team that's the main thing [Auckland Blues] it, in fact all came from Wayne's work with the NPC team.

"You'll hear it over and over, but there is nobody better at man-management. Sure, he could play the bad cop and if someone wasn't giving their all they'd be out. But you simply had to play for the guy and that loyalty was important with the calibre of plater we had."

Mils Muliaina, Doug Howlett Joe Rokocoko, Carlos Spencer, Keven Mealamu, Ali Williams… sometimes Auckland seemed like a New Zealand XV. "It was a tremendous team but it needed moulding and structure," Rush said. "I became Wayne's captain, we had a great relationship. We won the NPC in 2002 and 2003 and Wayne was awarded 'Coach of the Year'. He's a top-to-bottom guy; gets on with the owner as well as he gets on with the 18-year-old debutant. That might have something to do with his time as a policeman, and knowing everything about body language, but I think it's a one-off skill he has.

"He just feels very secure in whatever circumstance. When Henry came back from Wales, Wayne got him into Auckland to help out. Now, I've known coaches who always want to be the smartest man in the room and only wanted yes men. Yet Wayne won't let his ego get in the way. It's not all about him and you can see that with the coaches he has brought into his Welsh set-up - Stephen Jones, Sam Warburton, Martyn Williams. They're big names, Welsh legends."

Little is similarly effusive. "The great thing about Wayne when he was appointed Fiji coach from Auckland in 2004, was that he didn't swagger in as the big know-it-all cracking the whip," the fly-half said. "Instinctively, he knew that would not work with the Fijians. So he bonded with us over beer and having a joke and slowly brought in the structures. We won the Pacific Tri_Nations in his first year and only just got beat [11-10] versus Wales in an autumn international in Cardiff.

"Yet it was the World Cup Sevens win in Hong Kong in 2005 that was the highpoint. We beat New Zealand in the final and there were 10,000 greeting the plane when it landed at home. I like to think that as much as Wayne taught Fiji, Fiji taught Wayne - the way the game can be played."

Wayne Pivac. Photo / Photosport

Indeed, when asked about a forward-dominated game where the centres see attackers more than the ball, Pivac replied: "I'll go and get a job emptying dustbins rather than do that." After an unspectacular return to Auckland, Pivac bided his time waiting for the right opportunity, until the first overtures emerged from the land of song.

"I was gutted when Wayne joined the Scarlets, as I'd been telling the Blues for years that Wayne was the man," Rush, who moved to Cardiff in 2004, said. "I told anyone who would listen 'you watch how good he'll be down in Llanelli'."

Barclay admits he knew nothing about Pivac. "His CV was good but I hadn't heard of him when Simon Easterby appointed him as his assistant," he recalled. "It happened so quickly. Simon went to Ireland, Wayne was handed the job, but it felt pretty underwhelming and that he was just the next cab on the rank. But Wayne completely put his stamp on it, getting rid of those who he didn't believe were up to it or up for it and pretty soon we were flying.

"We won the Pro 12, got to the semi-final of the European Cup and from where we'd been, that was a huge achievement. But it was the way we did it. He got the very best out of players like Liam Williams, Rhys Patchell, Jonathan Davies. Stephen [Jones] was huge for Wayne, but it needed courage to give such an inventive coach he is head. I'd be excited if I was a Welsh fan, but they shouldn't expect the team suddenly to throw the ball around willy-nilly. Wayne isn't stupid. He'll keep what works"

Shaun Edwards plainly worked, but try as he may Pivac could not persuade Gatland's sergeant major from taking the option of a longer contract offer with France.

"That's my one worry - the loss of Shaun," Rush said. "He brought that hard edge that Wales had never had. I'm not being rude about the defence coach now [Byron Hayward] because Shaun's so good that even the second best defence coach in the world might struggle to live up to it.

"However, I'll tell you something that Wayne will bring in. I never saw Shaun down the Blues once and I was a bit miffed by that. There are only four regions and wouldn't it make sense that we are all singing off the same hymn sheet? That's what happens in New Zealand. I'm sure Wayne will bring that in - 100 percent he'll want everyone in Wales to buy into it. He'll convince them, too."