Mooar to be All Blacks assistant coach

WELLINGTON: The All Blacks received an early Christmas present yesterday with Welsh club Scarlets agreeing to release coach Brad Mooar for an undisclosed sum, New Zealand Rugby announced.

Mooar, who was only six months into a three-year contract with Scarlets, will become an assistant under Ian Foster in the new All Blacks coaching set up. It is understood the Welsh club had put a price tag of around 200,000 pounds (around US$260,000/233,000 euro) on Mooar, who joined the club after being part of the highly successful coaching team at Super Rugby champions Canterbury Crusaders.

“We’re pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with Scarlets which will see Brad return to New Zealand in June at the conclusion of the club’s European competitions,” New Zealand Rugby’s head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum said. “We recognise the difficult position it put the club in, but they, like us, also recognised that it was a fantastic opportunity for Brad — the chance to coach his country.” Lendrum said details of the agreement between New Zealand Rugby and Scarlets were confidential, but he confirmed “it did include the payment of some compensation” for the Welsh club.

Foster, who took the helm of the All Blacks after Steve

Hansen stepped down following their semi-final loss to England in the World Cup two months ago said he was “delighted to have Brad confirmed to join us”.

Mooar will look after the attack in the new All Blacks coaching set-up, with former Wellington Hurricanes coach John Plumtree the forwards’ coach, Greg Feek is the new scrum coach while Scott McLeod remains in charge of defence. The 45-year-old Mooar was the attack coach for the Crusaders during their run of three Super Rugby championships from 2017-19 and previously worked in South Africa as backs coach for the Southern Kings Super Rugby side. — AFP