Blues facing a ‘critical’ decision in coach search
CARDIFF Blues have been given a blueprint by the Welsh Rugby Union for appointing a new head coach – and told the future of the region depends on them getting it right.
With Danny Wilson having announced his departure at the end of the season, the region has already launched a search for a new man.
It follows years of coming and going on the coaching front at the Arms Park, with no real stability having been achieved since Dai Young left for Wasps in 2011.
WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips has revealed the governing body is assisting in the recruitment process.
And Phillips stressed that it is the most important appointment the Blues will make for years and that the WRU have helped them draw up criteria that should be non-negotiable when it comes to offering the job.
Phillips said: “The most critical thing for the Blues right now, and we are giving them support on this, is the appointment of the new coach.
“Getting that appointment right is the single most important decision I think they will make in the next... however long.
“If we are going to have a Welshcentric playing system that requires players to stay in Wales or come back to Wales they are going to want to play for a really great coach.
“To attract that coach – as much as we all rate Danny (Wilson) and wish he wasn’t going – they do have time on their side.
“They know they have six, seven or eight months to be really diligent and find the right person.”
Phillips spelt out what the Blues must insistent on from any new appointment, and vice versa.
He added: “They have to be really key on the criteria and we have been trying to help with that.
“(They must ask) what are the four or five things that a new coach must have, no compromise? They have to be really clear on that.
“(A new coach ) is going to come in and say ‘what’s my budget this year, next year, the year after and the year after.
“There’s no good giving him a oneyear budget, he has to know what he has to play with for the next few years.
“He has to know the strategy for where the region’s going in the next few years, what the commercial plan is for making sure money comes in.
“If I was one of the best coaches in the world the really obvious questions for me how much am I going to have to spend, what influence do I have over who my backroom team are?
“I’d say the things I wanted to do with no interference and these are things that need to be in place.
“If the Blues do a really good job on all this – and we are desperate to help them on that – if they are true to those criteria, then I think they’ll get somebody really good.
“But they have to choose the coach. It’s not our job to choose him, it’s our job to help them with the criteria and the business model.”
While the Scarlets continue this season to build on their stunning PRO12 title last term and the Dragons start from scratch under WRU ownership, the Blues and Ospreys appear to be in choppy waters.
But, asked if he was alarmed at the plight of the latter two regions, Phillips was nonchalant.
“I’m not alarmed because I don’t get alarmed. I need to be the one who doesn’t get alarmed,” he said.
“The good thing is we all have a clear vision about what the end game looks like but each region starts from a different place.
“The plan we need for each region is therefore necessarily different.
“It would be ludicrous to do the same thing with four entities that are in relatively different places,” added Phillips.