Waratahs must chase Warren Gatland to win titles

Warren Gatland. right, will be leaving the Wales job after the World Cup. Picture: AFP

Australian rugby has lost one of its most promising young coaches with NSW Waratahs assistant Simon Cron leaving at the end of the year to become head coach of Japanese Top League club Toyota Verblitz.

The nephew of New Zealand scrum guru Mike Cron, Simon won a lot of admirers for guiding Sydney club Northern Suburbs to the Shute Shield in 2016 and has been praised for his work at the Waratahs.

While the Waratahs have been criticised for letting such a talented coach slip through their fingers, I think they did the right thing.

Cron wanted a guarantee from the Waratahs that he would succeed current head coach Daryl Gibson at the end of next year, something the club was not prepared to give him.

Rather than compete for the Waratahs job, Cron took the Japanese role instead.

There is no doubt Cron was highly rated and may become a great coach but the Waratahs obviously had some reservations and wanted to see how he developed before offering the top job, which I believe was a sensible approach to take. But with Cron now out of the running to succeed Gibson, the question is who will be the next Waratahs’ head coach?

The Waratahs seem to have a preference to hire internally rather than externally, which would put current assistant coaches Chris Whitaker (attack) and Steve Tandy (defence) in favourable positions to stake their claims.

But I believe the Waratahs should have a good look outside their existing coaching ranks for a new head coach.

The Waratahs are a big team in a big city and that requires a big-name coach. If I were the Waratahs, I would be chasing Wales coach Warren Gatland.

The word in Europe is that Gatland will not get the England job after the World Cup in Japan later this year, which means his only ongoing commitment will be coaching the British and Irish Lions in South Africa in 2021.

Strangely, Gatland has never coached a Super Rugby team, establishing himself as a coach in European club rugby and New Zealand provincial rugby before becoming Wales coach in 2007.

Gatland may prefer to return to his native New Zealand to coach Super Rugby, especially as he would have a greater chance of winning a title.

But the Waratahs should sound him out, not just for themselves but in the national interest.

Australia desperately needs an injection of experienced, quality, international-standard coaching to lift playing standards in this country.

Australian teams have won four Super Rugby titles — the Brumbies in 2001 and 2004; the Queensland Reds in 2011; and the NSW Waratahs in 2014. Three of the four coaches of those title-winning teams became Test coaches — Eddie Jones, Ewen McKenzie and Michael Cheika.

The exception was David Nucifora, who did not have the opportunity to coach internationally.

Sure, Jones, McKenzie and Cheika went on to coach the Wallabies after winning the Super Rugby title but their Super Rugby teams looked externally to find them. Jones was recruited to the Brumbies from Suntory in Japan; McKenzie went to Queensland from the Waratahs; and Cheika coached European heavyweights Leinster and Stade Francais before guiding the Waratahs.

Australia has not had a serious Super Rugby title contender since the Waratahs won it in 2014. How long will it be before we have another champion team? Can we rely on the current crop of Super Rugby coaches to take us there?

If you look at the inconsistent form of Australia’s Super Rugby teams, none of them look like making a serious challenge this season. You might argue that New Zealand coaches have an advantage because their teams are more talented but if you have less playing talent, even more reason to emphasise coaching.

Rugby Australia has invested in Super Rugby coaching in the past. The national union subsidised the salary of South African World Cup winning coach Jake White at the Brumbies and they reached the final in 2013.

Perhaps Rugby Australia should invest in all of the Super Rugby coaches to ensure the best quality coaching for our teams, particularly in the big rugby states of NSW and Queensland.

That might sound like centralisation but if Rugby Australia and the Super Rugby teams put their resources together to hire the best coaches, they might get a result that is good for everyone.

We need the best coaching Australian teams to ensure our teams are competitive, if not dominant and provide a flow-on effect for the Wallabies.

If I were the Waratahs, I would be giving Gatland or someone of that ilk a call and if I were Rugby Australia, I would do everything in my power to help them recruit him.