Gibbes guarded on future after house cleaning

An under-fire Jono Gibbes wouldn’t confirm his next destination after his final match in charge of Ulster.

Gibbes has been appointed to coach Waikato in this year’s upcoming national provincial rugby championship but went to France late last week to talk with La Rochelle over their vacant head coach role.

Ulster ended their season with a 32-17 win over Ospreys at the weekend which booked them a place in next year’s Champions Cup.

Gibbes was asked following the match if he was now heading to Waikato or La Rochelle.

‘‘Ah . . . well, it’s making sure that the rest of the packing’s all done, we’ve got to clean the house and we’ve got to get a flight on Wednesday. So that’s the next thing that’ll be done.’’

Gibbes had previously announced he was returning to New Zealand for family reasons and was named in March as Waikato’s head coach, replacing Sean Botherway, who had one year to run on his contract but stepped down after Waikato were relegated from the top flight of the NPC last year for the first time in more than 20 years.

WRU CEO Blair Foote told Stuff on Friday that Gibbes was expected to arrive in New Zealand on Friday.

‘‘I had a message from Jono on Monday just concerning when he’s arriving and a start date when he’s had a chance to get over jet lag,’’ Foote said.

‘‘If something has changed between now and then, we don’t know about that.’’

Gibbes came under fire for his trip to La Rochelle – who failed to make the French Top 14 playoffs this season and are seeking a replacement for Patrice Collazo, who departed after seven years in charge. It came three days before Ulster’s Champions Cup playoff against Ospreys.

Gibbes was asked about the trip by BBC Northern Ireland.

‘‘The question is whether preparation was compromised,’’ Gibbes said.

‘‘No, it didn’t – it was the players’ day off. The fact was that it was a bizarre game in that we had three weeks to prepare for it anyway so there wasn’t a lot of detail that needed to be covered off. It’s the players’ down day and I’ve got a life outside of Ulster as well. Was performance compromised? No, it wasn’t.’’

The former eight-test All Black was then asked if his meeting left a ‘‘sour taste’’ in his relationship with Ulster.

‘‘Why would you ask that, mate?’’ he said.

‘‘I’ve just had a great experience working with people in a difficult year. There is no sour taste. I know you gotta ask that but I don’t know why you want to carry on like that.’’

Former Ulster and Ireland loose forward Stephen Ferris had criticised Gibbes before the match.

‘‘It’s crazy, Jono Gibbes has some nerve,’’ Ferris told BBC Northern Ireland.

‘‘The big week that it is, Ospreys in a do or die game. I just can’t get my head around it. Whether or not he takes that job in La Rochelle, for me, it doesn’t matter.

‘‘It is the way he went about it, leaving midweek.

‘‘The fans are not happy. ‘‘Something that Ulster rugby prides itself on is honesty, and the way he has went about his business over the last year or so, the things that are coming up in the media on a weekly basis, I think the lads deserve more than that,’’ Ferris told BBC Northern Ireland.