How ‘PC Pivac’ earned his stripes At a glance
Six Nations, round one Tomorrow: Wales v Italy, Cardiff, 3.15am (NZ time); Ireland v Scotland, Dublin, 5.45am
Monday: France v England, Paris, 4am
Indeed, when asked about a forward-dominated game where the centres see attackers more than the ball, Pivac replied: ‘‘I’ll go and get a job emptying dustbins, rather than do that.’’
After an unspectacular return to Auckland, Pivac bided his time, waiting for the right opportunity, until the first overtures emerged from the land of song.
‘‘I was gutted when Wayne joined the Scarlets [in 2014], as I’d been telling the Blues for years that Wayne was the man,’’ Rush, who moved to Cardiff in 2004, said.
Barclay admitted he knew nothing about Pivac. ‘‘His CV was good, but I hadn’t heard of him when Simon Easterby appointed him as his assistant,’’ he recalled. ‘‘It felt underwhelming. But Wayne completely put his stamp on it, getting rid of those who he didn’t believe were up to it or up for it, and pretty soon we were flying.
‘‘We won the Pro 12, got to the semifinal of the European Cup and from where we’d been, that was a huge achievement. But it was the way we did it.
‘‘He got the best out of players like Liam Williams, Rhys Patchell, Jonathan Davies. I’d be excited if I was a Welsh fan, but they shouldn’t expect the team suddenly to throw the ball around willy-nilly. Wayne isn’t stupid. He’ll keep what works.’’
Shaun Edwards plainly worked, but try as Pivac did, he could not dissuade Gatland’s sergeant major from taking the option of a longer contract offer with France.
‘‘That’s my one worry – the loss of Shaun,’’ Rush said. ‘‘He brought that hard edge that Wales had never had. I’m not being rude about the defence coach now [Byron Hayward] because Shaun’s so good that even the second-best defence coach in the world might struggle to live up to it.
‘‘However, I never saw Shaun down the Blues once and I was a bit miffed by that. There are only four regions and wouldn’t it make sense that we are all singing off the same hymn sheet? That’s what happens in New Zealand. I’m sure Wayne will bring that in and he’ll want everyone in Wales to buy into it. He’ll convince them, too.’’