Wayne Pivac’s future will be decided this week after an abysmal autumn campaign.
New Zealand destroyed Wales followed by loosing to Georgia for the first time ever and then leading by 21-points in the first half loosing by 5 points against Australia.
Meaning we only beat Argentina in the Autumn internationals
Pivac has cancelled his planned trip to France to ‘scope out Rugby World Cup 2023 venues’ and will now remain in Cardiff for the review of his performance to take place.
After each rugby campaign the WRU bosses review with the head coach and decide what action to take.
Last night the Union released an unexpected statement voicing the displeasure of the outgoing WRU CEO Steve Phillips over recent results and acknowledged that discussions would now take place.
The statement insisted that a ‘proper process’ must be followed but also ominously noted that WRU boss Phillips ‘left no room for interpretation when summing up what he thought of Wales’ debut loss to Georgia and final round defeat to Australia’.
Quoted in the statement, Phillips added: “With no disrespect to Georgia, who are a growing force in the world game, this result was extremely disappointing,” said Phillips.
“We were anticipating a significant improvement against Australia and there was an obvious positive reaction but, again, we are of course disappointed not to have won that game.
“We will now review the Autumn Nation Series campaign in its entirety and in detail, as we always do. Upon conclusion of this review we will, of course, act on the outcome as we continue to work towards, the now short-term goal of, success at the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the more immediate 2023 Six Nations competition, but also sustainable longer term success.”
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Pivac is clearly struggling to keep his current position, attention has already turned to who his replacement could be with whispers pointing towards Warren Gatland
The Kiwi is currently under contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union in his role as Director of Rugby at the Chiefs, meaning if the WRU want him back they would be required to pay him out of the last 12 months of his contract and convince him that the job is worth taking once again. Gatlands is a favorite throughout Wales
However he may be reluctant to risk his legacy but could also view the opportunity as a win-win. If he turns Wales around in 10 months and makes them a success at the World Cup, then his worth as one of the best coaches in the world would rise further.
Should he fail, he could point to the chaos that is currently unfolding in Welsh rugby at the moment with the grass roots struggle.