The England – Australia series has exhibited some enthralling rugby these past two weeks and Saturday’s game is likely to offer more.
Of course with England wrapping up the series The Roar has been dominated with articles concerning the state of Australia’s play, what went wrong and what can be done to improve the Wallabies fortunes.
In light of this, I thought a change in the topic of conversation would be good for those of you who are beginning to feel a little tired of Wallabies talk.
Within the past week or so the news has been announced that Michael Foley has been sacked at the Western Force with immediate effect. The Super Rugby franchise will now have a caretaker coach for the rest of the season until a new coach can be appointed for the 2017 season.
Foley’s record has been dismal at the Force, mirroring the record of his predecessor Richard Graham. Graham was no good at the Force and continued to be no good at the Reds. What is most puzzling about both these coaches is that both were able to remain in their jobs for so long despite their poor results.
The Reds sacked Graham earlier this season and have since seen some improvement under Nick Stiles and Matt O’Connor. As Winston Churchill once said, “To improve is to change,” and the change of coach was the first of such improvement for the Reds.
With both the Western Force and the Reds looking for a permanent coach next season, who would you want to see in charge in them? Who are the likely candidates?
What is more intriguing is whether or not the two will compete with each other for a head coach. Could the Force be appointed a better quality coach than the Reds because they’re part of the ARU’s high performance unit?
It will be interesting to see what you think.
CUW
Guest
quite a few clubs in england have sent their coaches packing , bath, chiefs , bristol....
taylorman
Guest
Stuart Lancaster? He's gotta be going cheap with every test that England play surely?
Johnny Boy Jnr
Guest
Perhaps the Waratahs should merge with them and be based out of Perth. The Western a Waratahs. I like it
Bakkies
Guest
He's a Director of Rugby these days. So he would have MOC and Stiles working with him
Scott
Guest
seen him 'linked' to the Force. Would be a good result I think.
Harry Jones
Expert
Heyneke Meyer. Perfect fit.
KTinHK
Roar Pro
Laurie's an outstanding forwards coach.... But wasn't much chop as head coach of the Brumbies.
KTinHK
Roar Pro
Phil Mooney? Have you fogotten what the Reds were like under him? Worst defense in the comp.... Then went to NZ to coach, with the same results, same outcome...
KTinHK
Roar Pro
Morgan Turinui? If he can get his head out of the form guide. Can certainly talk a good game. But there's a bit more to it than that.
riddler
Roar Rookie
would love laurie at the reds.. also am a big fan of phil mooney.. not sure what he is up to these days but would prefer most definitely to syiles or o'connor
riddler
Roar Rookie
kpm.. smith is in sydney.. not abroad last time i checked.. agree with twas meehan is not the answer.. he is at toulon on contract anyway..
ZimZim
Guest
Jake White would be great, has a habit of getting teams to perform above their pay grade.
Scott
Guest
Laurie Fisher
Gilbert
Guest
WF don't have the cattle to play Meyer's 10 man rugby.
Gilbert
Guest
Morgan Turinui for western force. Nick Stiles for Reds, Brad Thorn one of the assistants.
CUW
Guest
what australia shud do is to make one team by combining the resources of Reds and Force - Red Force :D i say this seriously. if u look at the squads of both Reds and Force, some vital positions are occupied by foreigners or very average club players. by combining the 2 , there will be a very good squad of auzzy players who can be groomed to play at test level. also with a strong squad, it will be possible to rotate players like the nz teams do and keep everyone fresh and more or less injury free. no matter who comes to coach, if the roster is weak then the ultimate performance will be rubbish.
TommoH
Guest
I like how the Reds have been improving under Stiles and O'Connor, they've been playing genuinely exciting rugby despite some of the results; I do think getting McKenzie back would be a step in the wrong direction, let the past be the past... As for the Force, whichever choice they make, I hope it's a wise one as the next few years will basically determine the future existence of the club. The Force have some good young talent coming through the ranks, as proven by their results in the junior national comps and more recently winning the world club 10's with a team of club grade players; they just need a hard nosed coach to get the best out of them, that's why I reckon Heyneke Meyer would be a good choice.
ClarkeG
Guest
Tom Coventry?
KTinHK
Roar Pro
The number one target for the Reds should be Ewan McKenzie. Eddie Jones has already shown that good coaches can make successful comebacks.... As for the Force, it doesn't matter, no-one will ever do any good with that team as long as it is located in WA.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
No. It's just that poor options generally need to go overseas because they can't get a look in here. Steve Meehan for example would be a terrible option. He was the Reds backs/attack coach in 2014 and 2015.