Waldrom misses out in shakeup
Interim coach Scott Waldrom is the first casualty of New Zealand’s poor showing at the men’s World Rugby Sevens Series.
Just over a month after taking over as head coach, Scotsman Clark Laidlaw has told Waldrom he’s not required on the coaching staff for the 2017-18 series which begins in Dubai on December 1 and takes in the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast next April.
Instead former All Black Liam Barry has been called up as assistant to join former sevens star Tomasi Cama, who was retained by Laidlaw as attack coach after being Waldrom’s assistant last season after the departure of longtime coach Gordon Tietjens.
NZ Rugby head of high performance Don Tricker said: ‘‘Scott did an outstanding job under difficult circumstances. He came in weeks before the season got underway and on the back of huge changes in the team.
‘‘He brought in and developed some great new players last season and was highly regarded by the team and the leadership at New Zealand Rugby. I know that Scott has a big future ahead of him and it will be great to see him develop further over the coming years.’’
Waldrom, a one-time All Black against Munster in 2008 and former NZ Sevens player, was promoted to interim coach following Tietjens’ departure last September after the failed Olympic Games campaign.
Remarkably for their high standards in sevens, New Zealand didn’t make a single final in the 10 world series tournaments in 2016-17 and finished fourth overall behind winners South Africa, England and Fiji.
In making the announcement Laidlaw said it was important to him to build a coaching team that had a mix of sevens skills, longstanding coaching experience and deep connections into all levels of rugby in New Zealand.
Barry is a former Blues assistant and North Harbour head coach.