Mooar will see out season before joining All Blacks
SCARLETS coach Brad Mooar has confirmed he’s leaving Welsh rugby to become part of Ian Foster’s All Blacks management team.
The former Crusaders assistant boss had been linked with moving back to his homeland immediately after Foster took over the reins of the All Blacks from Steve Hansen earlier this month.
And New Zealand Rugby confirmed on Tuesday they had reached an agreement with the Scarlets to allow Mooar to take up the role of attack coach at the end of the current season.
The Scarlets were reportedly demanding £200,000 in compensation with Mooar just six months into a three-year contract at the west Wales region.
NZR head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum said while details of the agreement between NZR and Scarlets were confidential, it did include the payment of some compensation. He added there is also an intention to continue to foster links between the two organisations in the future.
“We’d like to thank Scarlets for the positive, constructive and efficient approach they have taken around these discussions,” he said.
As expected, 45-year-old Mooar is excited about the prospects of playing a part in coaching his national side.
“To be joining the All Blacks coaching staff next year is an incredibly humbling and proud moment for my family and me,” said Mooar.
“The Scarlets players, staff, fans and board have all been superb and it is hugely appreciated by my family. I will be giving it my all with this special group of people at the Scarlets this season to help us achieve our goals before we head back to New Zealand to join ‘Fozzie’ and the All Blacks.”
As part of the agreement, Scarlets and New Zealand Rugby will explore high-performance partnership opportunities with each other in the coming years.
Scarlets general manager of rugby Jon Daniels said: “Brad’s stay here will be brief, but he and the rest of the coaching staff have set us on a path and the next head coach will help us continue on that journey.
“In terms of replacing Brad, we have already had a number of high-quality candidates express an interest in the role and as we have done in the past, we will conduct a thorough process to ensure we recruit the right man for the job once again. As for the immediate future, Brad is determined to build on the start we have had this season and we are all fully focused on a challenge for silverware in both the Guinness PRO14 and the European Challenge Cup.”
Meanwhile both the Scarlets and Ospreys have each made three changes as they head into their PRO14 Boxing Day derby today (Parc y Scarlets, 5.15pm).
Scarlets’ Angus O’Brien replaces an injured Dan Jones to start at No. 10, Ryan Conbeer slots in on the right wing due to Johnny McNicholl having an ankle issue, while Scotland international Blade Thomson come in for Uzair Cassiem at No. 8. The Ospreys will be led by Justin Tipuric, and remain without Wales duo Alun Wyn Jones and George North, whose respective returns from injury had been mooted for the derby.
15 L. Halfpenny, 14 R. Conbeer, 13 S. Hughes, 12 H. Parkes, 11 S. Evans, 10 A. O’Brien, 9 G. Davies, 1 W. Jones, 2 K. Owens (capt), 3 S. Lee, 4 J. Ball, 5 S.Lousi, 6 A. Shingler, 7 J. Macleod, 8 B. Thomson. Reps: 16 R. Elias, 17 P. Price, 18 W. Kruger, 19 T. Ratuva, 20 U. Cassiem, 21 K. Hardy, 22 R. Lamb, 23 P. Asquith.
15 C. Evans, 14 L. Klim, 13 K. Williams, 12 S. Williams, 11 L. Morgan, 10 M. McKenzie, 9 A. Davies, 1 N. Smith, 2 S. Otten, 3 M. Fia, 4 A. Beard, 5 B. Davies, 6 O. Cracknell, 7 J. Tipuric (capt), 8 M. Morris. Reps: 16 D. Lake, 17 R. Fawcett, 18 S. Gardiner, 19 M. Orie, 20 D. Lydiate, 21 S. Venter, 22 L. Price, 23 T. Thomas-Wheeler.
SCARLETS: OSPREYS: