The ‘great appointment’ Wayne Pivac wants as the new Wales head coach – and it’s not interim boss Matt Sherratt
Wayne Pivac looks on during his time in charge of Wales
Wayne Pivac has named the coach he wants to succeed Warren Gatland as Wales boss – and it’s not Matt Sherratt.
Cardiff head coach Sherratt took over the reins on an interim basis during this year’s Guinness Six Nations after Gatland stepped aside.
Despite that caretaker assignment enduring a record 68-14 Principality Stadium loss to England in March, the international level rookie has been asked back for the upcoming tour to Japan.
That Far East country is where Pivac, who coached Wales from the 2020 Six Nations through to the 2022 November internationals, has recently departed as Green Rockets head honcho.
Wales will arrive in Japan for their two-game series in July looking to end a record of 17 successive Test losses but, even if they snap that rotten run, Pivac suggested the Welsh Rugby Union should instead look to Scotland to find Gatland’s permanent successor.
Speaking to walesonline.co.uk, Pivac said: “Straight off the bat, Steve Tandy would be a great appointment. He is Welsh, he has coached regionally, he understands all of the issues Welsh coaches would be facing coming into the job, he has had international experience and done a very good job with Scotland.
“I know when I was coaching Wales, Steve was always good to catch up with. He would do a very good job. Stephen Jones would have to be invited back if it was down to me because he has so much to offer.
‘Some very capable people coaching in Wales…’
“But whoever the head coach is, they’ll put together their own team. Matt Sherratt has done a good job and is doing a fantastic job with Cardiff. It would be hard not to find a position there if he wanted it.
“There are some very capable people coaching in Wales and that is important to coach the Welsh team. It was a no-brainer for Warren to keep Stephen on after I left, especially as he used him as his attack coach when Wales reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2019 after Rob (Howley) was relieved of his duties.
“He did a really good job there. I was really surprised Warren didn’t keep him on, so there would be some continuity between the two groups especially as he had been away for a couple of years. That was surprising for me, but he has a lot to offer.
“Stephen has the ability if he wants to go down that path in the future, to be a head coach. But he has done a good job in the past as an attack coach, he has done a great job with Moana Pasifika.”
Wayne Pivac leaves Japanese role as 16 players exit including former Wales out-half
Now on the lookout for his next role, Pivac added that he would be interested in an approach to coach in regional rugby in Wales again.
The 62-year-old Kiwi initially came to work at the Scarlets in 2014 as an assistant and the region won the PRO12 title in 2017 after he had been promoted to head coach.
“I’m going to be really interested to see what the WRU do with the next coaching group,” he said. “I have got an idea of what I think might happen but if some of the current crew who are going to Japan end up staying on, then you could probably see Cardiff looking for some new coaches.
“Having lived in that area, that is something if it did come up I would be interested in having a conversation around. You’ll have some teams with a three-to-five-year development plan in place and they will want somebody to head that.
“Realistically at my age, I’m not looking for three-to-five-year contracts. I’m probably more around the two-to-three-year contracts, where I can go in to help a club but not just helping achieve better results and developing rugby players but also the succession plan for coaching.”
