New coach’s vision to take Waratahs back to top of the props
New NSW coach Rob Penney is determined to turn the spluttering Waratahs into a finals force again - and the crafty Kiwi has identified a key recruitment that will lay the platform for his rebuild.
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Kiwi Rob Penney has identified the recruitment of a powerful tighthead prop as essential if his new job as NSW Waratahs coach is to soar with the free-spirited, attacking style he wants to play.
Penney, 55, was confirmed as Waratahs coach for the next three years, as revealed by The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, from a shortlist of 12 after an exhaustive search drew 62 candidates.
Having the biggest rugby state in the country rubberstamp Kiwi coaching at the helm for seven years now Daryl Gibson has departed after his four-year tenure will stir understandable angst that Aussie coaches are being blocked in their rise.
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Waratahs chief executive Andrew Hore was prepared for the question and said it probably reflected most on “making up for 10 years with a lack of coaching development” on the Australian rugby scene at large.
He guaranteed that Penney’s staff of coaching assistants would all be Australian and that the Kiwi’s role in developing younger coaches like Crusaders guru Scott Robertson and Tabai Matson, when in New Zealand, was one of the benefits of this appointment.
“We feel we are actually strengthening coach development for local coaches into the future,” Hore said.
Penney coached Canterbury to four successive ITM Cup titles (2008-11) in New Zealand before taking on Irish power Munster for two seasons and has recent experiences with Japanese company sides.
He said he aimed to turn the spluttering Waratahs into a finals force again.
“It’s obviously a massive honour and hopefully I’m able to bring all the things you want the Waratahs to be,” Penney said in Tokyo.
Penney said he had a strong focus on growing the Waratahs from within through their crop of emerging talent and filling voids left by departing stalwarts Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps and Sekope Kepu.
He pulled no punches about where he saw the most important recruiting was still to be done.
“There’s a need for a robust and dominating tighthead prop. When the pressure came on we saw some frailty and fracture (at scrum time) and bad results on that element alone,” Penney said of watching NSW matches.
“We will canvas as many Australian-eligible boys as possible. A powerful outside back and a line-breaking forward are probably two other areas.
“There’s not great experience in our No.9s and No.10s but I hope that is an area of rapid growth.
“I’m going to back the young boys there and hope everyone is a bit patient early on.”
Penney has spoken to Gibson about NSW rugby.
“He said people were crying out for success and there was a need to have the turtle shell and deflectors on at times because it wasn’t an easy environment,” Penney said.
“Australian rugby to me has always meant a free-spirited, confident and highly intellectual style and we will create the structures to hopefully emulate that.”
Originally published as New coach’s vision to take Waratahs back to top of the props