BRAD’S READY TO HOLD COURT
THE Scarlets are replacing one highly-rated New Zealand coach with another after unveiling Crusaders assistant Brad Mooar as the man to take over from Wayne Pivac in Llanelli next season.
The 44-year-old former solicitor is a relative unknown in the northern hemisphere but has been part of a hugely successful coaching team that has led the Kiwi franchise to back-toback Super Rugby titles.
Once it was announced that Pivac would be Wales’s new national coach following the World Cup in Japan next autumn, the Scarlets made no secret of their desire to fill the post with a high-calibre replacement.
They undertook an extensive global search and a number of high-profile coaching figures like Kieran Crowley, Paul Feeney, Rob Penney and David Wessels were linked to the role.
But the West Walians have gone for Mooar.
Here we look at the background of the new man in the Parc y Scarlets hot seat.
During his playing days Mooar was a fly-half for Canterbury’s B side with his path to the first team blocked by All Blacks great Andrew Mehrtens.
“I think I’m a better coach than I was a player and I think that helps my with my coaching,” he said in an interview prior to his appointment with the Crusaders. “Nothing is taken for granted and I can go into it with fresh thinking.”
Mooar started out his coaching career with the Christchurch Rugby Club colts team in 2007 before graduating to the senior side.
He moved to South Africa in 2012, where he guided the Eastern Province Kings to the Currie Cup division one title and was then appointed assistant coach of the Southern Kings, who were playing Super Rugby at the time.
He returned to New Zealand to become head coach and director of rugby at provincial side Southland, then in 2015, he joined Todd Blackadder’s Crusaders coaching team.
With Scott Robertson having since taken over from Blackadder, the Crusaders have gone on to win the last two Super Rugby titles.
Up until 2012 Mooar had combined his rugby coaching interests with his day job of being a property law specialist solicitor at Christchurchbased firm Cavell Leitch.
He went on to head up the firm’s sports law and management team, and was also an accredited player agent representing a number of New Zealand players, including Luke Romano and a certain Hadleigh Parkes.
Speaking of his decision to quit law and concentrate fully on rugby when he joined the Southern Kings six years ago, he said: “I suppose it is a big step in going from a secure profession and job (law) to an environment (rugby coaching) that is pretty volatile.
“I’m certainly well aware of the comments that the only certain thing about a coach is he’ll be fired some day!
“But I’m very passionate about coaching. I’ve loved every minute of it so far.” You only have to look at a highlights reel of the Crusaders’ Super Rugby campaigns in recent years to know it’s not going to be route-one stuff.
Since it was announced that Pivac was joining the national team, the Scarlets have insisted they wanted a man who would retain the free-running philosophy that has been ingrained during Pivac’s tenure.
Landing the coach behind the Crusaders’ scintillating attacking game is a firm message of intent.
Having worked with the likes of Israel Dagg, Ryan Crotty, Richie Mo’unga and Jack Goodhue, Mooar has had some dazzling attacking talent at his disposal and there will be a couple of familiar faces in Llanelli, with Johnny McNicholl and Kieron Fonotia having both been part of the Crusaders backline before heading north.
Mooar’s job at the Crusaders saw him put in charge of leading the team’s attack, strategy and game planning. He is the man who would put together a plan before presenting it to head coach Robertson and his fellow assistants.
He’s clearly a person who thinks outside the box too.
Ahead of last season Mooar travelled to North Carolina in the USA, visiting US Army special warfare educators at Fort Bragg to see what he could learn.
During a two-day visit he listened to and spoke with psychologists, many of whom had been involved in active duty and now put together education and training programmes for special forces soldiers.
“There were things that were directly transferable both ways around planning and strategy, and the iden- tification and development of leaders,” Mooar told Stuff.NZ following his return.
“Things like leadership in combat, what it looks like, and the emotional and mental well-being in recovery of the soldiers during post-deployment.”
Mooar then spent three days at the Centre for Creative Leadership in Greensboro.
“We are always seeking that little bit of an edge. How are we going to make ourselves better, to make our players better?
“There could be that one little gem that might be the difference in a moment of a game, or in someone’s career,” he said. THE LAW BACKGROUND WHAT HAS MOOAR HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE SCARLETS? “The opportunity to take on the role of head coach at the Scarlets is simply too good to pass up and is both an exciting challenge for myself, and a fantastic opportunity for my family to experience life on the other side of the world.
“The Scarlets is a rugby brand that’s known the world over, it is a winning club with an extremely proud history, passionate fans, and is aspirational in its goals. It is humbling to be offered the opportunity to take the reins after the great work Wayne Pivac has led as he moves on to the Wales job.
“In addition to the Scarlets’ onfield rugby pedigree, with a strong squad of talented and largely homegrown players, the club represents its wider community with great pride and dedication.
“My family and I are looking forward to being a part of the wider Scarlets community.” AN INNOVATIVE THINKER HIS COACHING CAREER SO FAR WHAT IS HIS COACHING PHILOSOPHY?