Tigers post Borthwick - next Head Coach?

[Soggypitch]

Completely agree Sam.

[TigerFeetSteve]

https://www.fijirugby.com/gray-resigns- ... ant-coach/

Interesting to note that Richie Gray has also left Fiji, following Cotter out the door quickly.

It is possible (though no inisde info on this one) that Cotter is building a backroom team for his next role?

[drc_007]

Wigworth wrote

When he helps foster a culture around the result of a match being the be-all and end-all for your fans, you get a situations like with Wayne Barnes wife where fans threatened to kill her children and burn down her house. A little beyond the pale you think?
Top

With all respect, that is silly. If you don't care about losing you shouldn't be in the job. When certain games are played because
of all the hard work and training you have done, but are lost through incompetent or even worse, unfair refereeing you have a right to feel a bit upset. The idiot who made threats against Wayne's wife was clearly a deranged individual. Normal, rugby playing and supporting types will not be turned into that, no matter how upset they get.

Let us recruit the best man for the job and if that is Rassie we will get behind him.

The issue is that this behaviour has become more normalised and accepted from SA fans, you only have to have a scroll through twitter when SA are playing and you will see plenty of it, or the 3 dedicated YouTube channels set up to clip and highlight any perceived injustice against SA or SA teams in matches.

Wayne Barnes on the situation. https://youtu.be/dJEFLvvHZYo

[AViewFromLe2]

Cotter clearly has a new gig lined up, however it might not be us. Connacht, Leinster or Clermont alongside us, all have coaching vacancies atm. We're not the only disco in town.

The Daily Telegraph and I believe The Times have linked us with Dan Mckellar, who is currently Australia's Forwards Coach. He is a well-regarded coach, and is known for being a rolling maul expert. He is also someone that has a good relationship with Borthwick and is well-regarded by Eddie Jones. I personally think that's a credible link, ticks all the boxes from our side, and is someone that could start July 1st. The Roar who are a decent media outlet in Australia have also said he wants to be a HC not just an Assistant. Now that Eddie has take charge at Australia, that means he will have to wait for that particular opening.

There have been a lot of names bandied around, however if we were to narrow down the list, then i think we're looking at Cheika, McKellar, Cotter & McFarland as being the final 4. I really would not be surprised if it was one of those 4 as our next HC.

[mol2]

Why resign now?
The other teams mentioned won’t likely lose their coaches this side of the World Cup, so unless he is coming to us..?

[Loob19]

My goodness, spare us Rassie’s tantrums please. I’m fairly certain no referee goes out to make bad decisions and to cheat teams. Please be mindful that player and coaches make mistakes, just as referees do, not intentionally. The antics of Rassie is, and will, have a massive impact on grass roots refereeing and I’d really like to keep the football mentality out of rugby for as long as possible please.

My personal hopes are the Vern Cotter is heading to Ulster to replace our new head coach McFarland or that we pinch McKellar.

Have fun folks.

[Tiglon]

My goodness, spare us Rassie’s tantrums please. I’m fairly certain no referee goes out to make bad decisions and to cheat teams. Please be mindful that player and coaches make mistakes, just as referees do, not intentionally. The antics of Rassie is, and will, have a massive impact on grass roots refereeing and I’d really like to keep the football mentality out of rugby for as long as possible please.

My personal hopes are the Vern Cotter is heading to Ulster to replace our new head coach McFarland or that we pinch McKellar.

Have fun folks.

To be clear, I do agree with you about Rassie, but I can see it from his point of view too. Every decision coaches make are analysed and critiqued, quite often with video analysis to show exactly why the coach's decision was wrong. Then there are articles like Stuart Barnes' titled "Steve Borthwick is focused on the basics. It's a philosophy for the average". Maybe the first step of getting coaches to be kinder to referees is to be kinder to coaches...

[Tigersunited]

Cotter clearly has a new gig lined up, however it might not be us. Connacht, Leinster or Clermont alongside us, all have coaching vacancies atm. We're not the only disco in town.

The Daily Telegraph and I believe The Times have linked us with Dan Mckellar, who is currently Australia's Forwards Coach. He is a well-regarded coach, and is known for being a rolling maul expert. He is also someone that has a good relationship with Borthwick and is well-regarded by Eddie Jones. I personally think that's a credible link, ticks all the boxes from our side, and is someone that could start July 1st. The Roar who are a decent media outlet in Australia have also said he wants to be a HC not just an Assistant. Now that Eddie has take charge at Australia, that means he will have to wait for that particular opening.

There have been a lot of names bandied around, however if we were to narrow down the list, then i think we're looking at Cheika, McKellar, Cotter & McFarland as being the final 4. I really would not be surprised if it was one of those 4 as our next HC.

All very credible rumours I’d say. Looks like we are actually conducting a thorough worldwide search. Of those 4 I think DM would have the most drive and enthusiasm, very much still on the way up in his coaching career.

Not much support for the current and possibly next World Cup winning coach

[TigerFeetSteve]

Thankfully Rassie has confirmed there's no interest from Tigers for him!

https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/rassie-den ... ter-links/

[kpj tiger]

Thankfully Rassie has confirmed there's no interest from Tigers for him!

https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/rassie-den ... ter-links/

"but I can confirm that at this stage there are no discussions between Rassie and the Tigers"

Expect him to be announced as the next Tigers coach next week then...

[Tigersunited]

Ah, the old deny tactic, I presume the reason his lawyer is speaking, is because he is on a plane to the UK

[AViewFromLe2]

Why resign now?
The other teams mentioned won’t likely lose their coaches this side of the World Cup, so unless he is coming to us..?

Connacht's DOR Andy French is off back to Australia in the summer, plus a couple of their coaching team are also leaving. Whilst Leinster may be an unlikely destination, they need someone to replace Lancaster. Clermont sacked Jono Gibbs after losing to us, and only have an interim HC currently i believe. So all 3 have coaching positions that need filling for the summer like us. I'm not saying Cotter definitely is not coming to us, but there are other destinations available.

[kpj tiger]

So I've put together little fact files on all the main candidates for the Tigers job for those who may be unfamiliar with candidates, I'll try and expand upon it later on

Rassie Erasmus
Current Employer: South Africa
Previous Teams: Free State (Head), Cheetahs (Head), Western Province (Head), Stormers (Head), Munster (Head)
Honors:
• Cheetahs: Currie Cup winner 2005, 2006.

• Western Province: Currie Cup runner up 2010.

• Stormers: Super Rugby runner up 2010.

• Munster: Pro12 runner up 2017.

• South Africa: Rugby Championship winner 2019, Runner up 2018. World Cup winner 2019.

Michael Cheika
Current Employer: Argentina
Previous Teams: Randwick (Head), Leinster (Head), Stade Francais (Head), Waratahs (Head), Australia (Head)
Honors:
• Randwick: Schute Shield winner 2004.

• Leinster: Celtic League winner 2008, Runner up 2006, 2010. Heineken Cup winner 2009.

• Stade Francais: Challenge Cup runner up 2011.

• Waratahs: Super Rugby winner 2014.

• Australia: Rugby Championship winner 2015, Runner up 2016, 2017, 2019. World Cup runner up 2015.

Vern Cotter
Current Employer: None
Previous Teams: Bay of Plenty (Head), Crusaders (Assistant), Clermont (Head), Scotland (Head) Montpelier (Head), Fiji (Head)
Honors:
• Clermont: Top 14 winner 2010, Runner up 2007, 2008, 2009. Challenge Cup winner 2007. Heineken Cup runner up 2013.

Gregor Townsend
Current Employer: Scotland
Previous Teams: Scotland (Assistant), Glasgow (Head), British and Irish Lions (Assistant)
Honors:
• Glasgow Warriors: Pro12 winner 2015, Runner up 2014.

• Scotland: Calcutta Cup winner 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Dan Mcfarland
Current Employer: Ulster
Previous Teams: Connacht (Assistant), Ireland U20's & Wolfhounds (Assistant), Glasgow (Assistant), Scotland (Assistant)
Honors:
• Ulster: Pro14 runner up 2020.

Dan Mckeller
Current Employer: Australia
Previous Teams: Souths (Assistant), Souths (Head), Tuggeranong Vikings (Head), UC Vikings (Head), Brumbies (Head)
Honors:
• Souths: Queensland Premier Rugby runners up 2009.

• Tuggeranong Vikings: ACTRU Premier Division winners 2011, 2012.

• Brumbies: Super Rugby AU winner 2020, Runner up 2021.

Leon McDonald
Current Employer: Aukland Blues
Previous Teams: Tasman (Assistant), Tasman (Head), Crusaders (Assistant)
Honors:
• Tasman Makos: ITM Cup runner up 2016, 2017

• Blues: Super Rugby runner up 2022, Super Rugby Trans-Tasman winner 2021

[Tigersunited]

Great work KPJ.
The more I read and think about it the more I’m edging to DM. That said, happy with any of these chaps….

[wigworth]

Great work KPJ.
The more I read and think about it the more I’m edging to DM. That said, happy with any of these chaps….

Which DM?