Kiwis rule coaching roost at World Cup

02 October 2015 - 02:06 By Archie Henderson

Heyneke Meyer is not the only South African coach at the Rugby World Cup. Frans Ludeke is there with Fiji, while Pieter "Slaptjips" Rossouw and Henry Gerber are helping Namibia. They are, however, a drop in the rugby pond compared to New Zealand, who have seven coaches at the tournament and eight if you count Tongan-born Mana Otai, who spent his youth in New Zealand.The Kiwi numbers show they are not shy to share their rugby secrets.The New Zealand Rugby Union sought out Georgia as a prospect for Milton Haig, hoping he could teach those tough guys something as well as develop as a coach. That could explain why New Zealand have been such a strong rugby nation for so long.Instead of hiring and firing like we do, the Kiwis plan carefully. Graham Henry, who coached the 2011 World Cup-winning All Blacks, and current coach Steve Hansen, were sent to Wales to coach. Wayne Smith, regarded as the best defence coach in the world, was sent to Northampton and is Hansen's sidekick.The New Zealand coaches at Super 15 and provincial level gather frequently to discuss ideas. There is a culture of sharing that does not exist here. If Hansen or Smith should suddenly depart, the Kiwis have Warren Gatland (Wales), Joe Schmidt (Ireland) and Vern Cotter (Scotland) to call on. Then there are Haig, Kieran Crowley (Canada) and John McKee (Fiji) as reserves.South African rugby could try to copy the Kiwis. After all, we have many fine coaches who could contribute - from Jake White to Peter de Villiers to Nick Mallett to Allan Solomons in Scotland and to even Ludeke. Perhaps SA Rugby can even rope in Eddie Jones from next year...

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