Almost five months after moving Stephen Larkham sideways, Rugby Australia has finally appointed his replacement as Wallabies assistant coach.
Former NSW Waratahs playmaker Shaun Berne will Michael Cheika’s coaching staff for the 2019 Rugby Championship and World Cup in Japan.
A long-time Randwick clubmate of Cheika’s, Berne completed his Super Rugby commitments with the Melbourne Rebels earlier this week and will start his new role with the Wallabies immediately.
The 40-year old has been serving as attack coach under Dave Wessels in Melbourne following stints at the Western Force and as coach of Leinster ‘A’ in Ireland.
“This is a huge opportunity for me personally but, more importantly, I want to do whatever I can to make the Wallabies successful this year,” said Berne, who will have just five Tests to impose his skills on Cheika’s team before Australia’s World Cup opener against Fiji on September 21.
“I want to contribute to the team by focusing on the things that will serve us best when we are under pressure, like passing, catching, alignment, running lines and deception – on and off the ball.
“I just want to add wherever I can to the coaching team around me. It sounds simple but simple things done really well, all the time, will get us to where Cheik wants us to be as a team.”
Cheika hopes Berne – a one-time Australia A representative who played 38 games for NSW from 2001-06 – brings a new energy to the Wallabies squad.
“His job will be to help players achieve their top levels of play and stay at that level more consistently,” Cheika said.
Berne is one of three recent senior appointments with a new level of experience to surround the team in the lead-up to their World Cup campaign in Japan later this year, following the earlier appointments of head performance coach Dean Benton and physiotherapist Ed Hollis.
Benton was most recently England Rugby’s head of sport science but has also enjoyed successful stints at the Melbourne Storm, Brisbane Broncos, Leicester Tigers and the Brumbies.
Hollis returns to Australia following four years as head of medical services at the Leicester Tigers and has also worked for Tottenham Football Club in the Premier League as well as the Canberra Raiders and the Australian women’s soccer team.
The Wallabies open their Rugby Championship campaign against South Africa in Johannesburg on July 20.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Nah. I think the 6 or so people who liked it show it’s not hard to follow.
jack
Roar Rookie
It is hard to follow your comment TWAS. An inspiring choice would be an attack coach with some nous and ability to do the job. If that meant signing them for a 2 or 3 year deal that would be excellent for the new head coach. Of course, Berne is not that inspired choice - you even say so yourself. Berne is obviously just getting onto the RA trough until he can sort out his next gig. Rebels is clearly imploding with the number of players departing and now the coaching staff going too. Oh and by the way, don't forget Todd Louden, who came down to Rebels at the start of this year, (when the team had their heads together and pulled great results) has quietly left the building without any fanfare.
jack
Roar Rookie
my thoughts exactly. Look at the attack score for the last two weeks at Rebels - one try. Can't be stuffed going back over the season, but that is grim for the Wallabies.
Lara
Guest
The track record is your guide, really hope it works out .....playing with the big boys now.
Try Hard
Roar Rookie
Whoopie-do
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
It looks like the u20s benefitted a lot from Bernie. Good move by RA to move him on. Cheika kicks another own goal.
ethan
Guest
Jobs for the boys. Cheika liked having a beer with him a Randwick, so he's qualified. He must know he's a yes man.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Has anybody thought maybe they just replaced Bernie with Berne so the players don’t need to learn a new coaches name?
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
Well 2 comments 1) Let's not place much importance on this "attack coach" position as Cheika has already stated he's actually an "attack trainer" who will only assist in implementing in training the attack strategies developed by Cheika. Plus the appointment is only til end of RWC when Cheika leaves also. Berne won't be able to achieve much over the next 5 months and so he should not be blamed if the attack doesn't fire. 2) The most annoying part is Berne's appointment is clearly more jobs for mates. I know these 2 guys have been good Randwick team mates since the 1990s.
Puff
Guest
Not to sound too negative this Rebel’s supporter is somewhat perplexed; as the team’s attack / defensive coach Shaun Berne is nothing to rejoice about. As the season progressed such fundamentals were relentlessly tested, they deteriorated as the season finished in disarray. Is he the answer to Cheika’s inconsistence’s or just a mate who will be denigrated after failure?
Geoff
Guest
Small steps. Next we will select specialist players in their positions, not players who can cover several but not necessarily the best at any...
Highander
Guest
Rebel finished 2nd in the comp for advantage line percentages and 14th for total run metres - suggests that the forwards did fine and the attack did not.
Kiwikrs
Roar Rookie
I think Mick has done more than he gets credit for. For example, the forwards have definitely shown improvement in their short passing and offloading, Kerevi has started to develop a kicking game.
Jiffyrabbit
Guest
Offtopic, but why is Izzy's advert/begging video auto-playing on this site?
Craig
Guest
Now there's a surprise - another Cheika ol' mate plucked from obscurity. Let's review how that's worked out so far: * Ledesma - pass with honours * Raiwalui - fail (who elects to take an unnecessary risk and play props out-of-position against England, FFS?) * Grey - fail (*possibly not all his fault) * Larkham - fail* (*probably not all his fault) * Mick ‘The Kick’ Byrne - fail??? - can anyone point to skills improvement, especially kicking?
TheReds
Roar Rookie
The attack was not the problem at the Rebels but the forwards were weak and were pushed easily backwards. When your forwards can not clean the ruck out because they lack core strenght, physicallity and mongrel your 9 and 10 will not have quick ball to attack. How many times did I have seen opposition players coming through the gate in a counter ruck, especially against strong physical team of SA and NZ. The only thing their forwards were good at was the lineout. The only time their attack clicked was when their forwards were on par with the opposition forwards, mostly against OZ teams.
Kiwikrs
Roar Rookie
I'm not going to hold my breath. Rebels haven't been all that inspiring in attack and have definitely been worked out early in the season and lacked a plan B
Aiden
Guest
This is going to be great. Passing and catching are on his list, so that brings them up to U11s level.
KFar
Guest
Ahhh, isnt that the head coaches role?
Cole
Roar Rookie
“His job will be to help players achieve their top levels of play and stay at that level more consistently,” Cheika said. Consistency was not the Rebels strong suit in attack this year! Seemed to fade horribly and lacked a plan B when the front foot flat line back play wasn’t working.