Ma'a Nonu dumped by Hurricanes

Mains didn't seek reappointment. He'd already said he was gonna step down after 95 win or lose.

Defunkt - the mark of a good coach is imposing his will and structure on the team - while not easy to do, the solution is not to sack two of your best players, it is to appeal to whatever drives them, get them motivated adn get them to perform in a team context. In this comp you need 10+ test match quality players to win it, including 2 or 3 world XV level players. Hurricanes have now lost two test quality players (and arguably their only world XV player) - whos left? I count 4-6 test quality players depending on how tough you want to be on test quality (Cruden is not in the list as I dont rate him but if pushed you can increase it to 4-7): Cory Jane Hosea Gear Conrad Smith Victor Vito Piri Weepu Rodney So'oialo While these are all quality players, there are no world XV players there (maybe Gear or Jane but is debatable) Unless some serious recruits arrive or some young players develop quickly the Canes will be in for some lean years

Not denying Hart was good for a while (not a fan) but not latterly: By the way the only coach the retiring 1997 AB legends did not mention as a coach they liked or respected. His last appointment was a farce. As was pairing Wylie/Hart, were they blind? Not a fan of Wylie (good trainer though). Thought the exception of reappointing after WC loss should have started with Mains, there were clear mitigating circumstances in his case, but easy to state after the event. Smith was badly handled. Deans should have been head coach instead of Mitchell - 'main coach must be forwards coach'!! Not wise to comment about Henry at this stage except at time I was for Deans despite his mistakes (or/and Mitchells). A comedy of errors by NZRU. It was pretty clear that Cooper was having difficulty getting first prize; management or him whatever, it became clear Canes weren't going to make it (first prize) without change. Foster has shown talent at times but his side continues to be plagued by injuries and overall he has not been successful and you have to bite the bullet on that. Not a good way for new Hurricane management and coach to start. As pointed out Nonu and Hore (you notice its Nonu getting the spot light) are experienced players and don’t have a history of coach problems. The Ali Williams issue with Nucifora was coach specific. Tew undermined NZ rugby by allowing O’Neill to introduce laws (under guise for Argentina) allowing flow of players out of NZ. I have commented many times on here; AU will ransack NZ players and coaches if Tew is allowed to continue. Hammett was straight away offered by AU. Tew intervened (should not have to, if regulations in place) and reason Canes have a rookie coach. No head coach experience at all and straight into a Super franchise (only in NZ mate), it is just an enormous gamble to take on a completely rookie coach (regardless of who it is); the situation should not have arisen – NZ rugby management again. As much as I cant bear the sight of O’Neill imagine the outcomes if he had headed the NZRU?

ABF: Plenty of talent in NZ thanks very much. We are not AU.

I thinks its just a matter of Nonu's perception. In Ted he sees a mentor/coach/boss, so there's no mucking around. In Hammett he sees 'one of the boys', so its like "How can I take Hammer seriously ? We used to get wasted together back in the day"

Hopefully, the Canes will sign up two Argentinian forwards for next year (both props would be handy) which would really add starch. Come to think of it, the Chiefs should too! Ideally, I would like to see Nonu play for the Highlanders, they need more quality backs!

You're right, we've also forgotten the Saffa teams, the Blues, the Crusaders and West Tigers, that about covers it...

Maybe Hammett is just not a very good coach. It he lasts till next year we will find out!

Hart won the first series in SA and only lost 1 match in his first 2 seasons - I don't think many boards would dump him after 1 losing season to be fair. And Cooper, while he stayed a couple of seasons too long, was actually pretty successful overall. He took a team that had only made the Semi-finals once in the first 7 or so years of the Super 12 and turned them into fairly regular semi-finalists (5 semi-finals in 8 seasons) - don't get me wrong, he had a lot of problems as a coach (eg talent spotting and a failure to develop an actual 'tight' tight five) but overall you'd have to give him a pass mark for his tenure at the Canes. Not A+ but a solid B+, I guess. Foster was mediocrity personified. 1 good season in how many?

While I get that Hammett wants to develop his own team culture at the Canes, I can't understand how Nonu and Hore can be so unmanageable for him, yet for Graham Henry, the strictest of authoritian coaches, they're trusted senior players in his squad.

That will count them both out of the ABs so they won't be coming to Aus I'm afraid.

2004 Radike Samo!!!!

Don't have inside knowledge on Canes but reports today point to the previous CEO of Wellington/Canes rugby region going out of his way to encourage the clique of ABs while remaining players felt unrecognised. If the management is anything like the Wellington City Council they would not be able to see past their noses. There also seems to be a NZ tendency to hang on to long to coaches when they don't get the results. Thinking of Cooper, the Chiefs guy and AB coach John Hart. But as said here by a number of people it is the Canes tight 5 that has not been well recruited; not enough eye for talent development or full use of the regions provinces. At the basis of it all it seems, a management who is just not professional enough and the fact that Nonu and Hore are well supported by the AB coaches does raise serious questions about the new Canes management and coach. Which reminds me of the Nucifora/Ali Williams split.

Those quotes have been attributed to personalities from the NFL, F1GP, English football etc. I think it's safe to say Cooper never said that.

A Cooperism for you Jerry "You guys line up alphabetically by height." And, "You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle." No wonder they had to make up their own direction!

Under-performers is a bit much, under Cooper they made the semi-finals 5 out of 8 seasons. Yeah, they never won the comp, but they always lacked a good tight five - they've had a few All Blacks there, but they all tended to be 'loose' tight forwards (except Hore). The only time I thought they genuinely could win it was 2006 and the final was reduced to a farce by the fog.

Then he's damned if he does or doesn't. Hurricanes are perennial under-performers (achieving only one final in Super rugby history IIRC) despite always having a very healthy share of All Black stars. That points to a failing in either management or culture, if they want some of the Crusaders' success they'll need to adopt some similar team culture.

Tks Ben, I knew they were there somewhere

Im from Hout Bay myself and now live in Manly. I agree with you about the SFS which is probably why I struggle to bond with my adopted states team. Funny enough I will be Melbourne this weekend and might drop into the Force game depending on how things play out.

Like you Rusty, I am a Stormers fan. (I was born in CT) But my second team is the Force, even though I live in Sydney. That's because my extended Aussie fam, have Perth season tickets and blue shirts and are in the front row, screaming at the refs on given Perth home game. (which they normally lose) The passion of the Force fans reminds me of the republic. Whereas, here in Sydney at the SFS, no-one says boo. I am still going to game on Saturday, but I will be probably backing the unfashionable "Landers" I love the way the Cheetahs play, if you had said at the start of season, that the top try scorer after week 17, is a unknown Cheetahs player (Take a bow Sarel Pretorious) you would have been laughed at. Especially with all the talent like Sivi, Roko, Digby etc.