Wayne Pivac
Full nameWayne Jeffrey Pivac
Date of birth (1962-09-10) 10 September 1962 (age 61)
Place of birthAuckland, New Zealand
SchoolWestlake Boys High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock, Flanker, Number 8
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1985–1987 North Harbour 24 (8)
Correct as of 05 December 2022
Coaching career
Years Team
1997–1998 Northland
1999–2003 Auckland
2004–2007 Fiji
2007–2008 North Harbour
2012–2013 Auckland
2014–2019 Scarlets
2019–2022 Wales
2023– NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu
Correct as of 25 August 2023

Wayne Pivac (born 1962) is a New Zealand rugby union coach who is the head coach of the NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu who play in the Japan Rugby League One.[1] In November 2019 he replaced Warren Gatland as the Wales national team coach and remained in this position until 2022.[2]

A former sworn officer in the New Zealand Police, he was a constable at the Takapuna police station on Auckland's North Shore. He played his early rugby at Rosmini College and then Westlake Boys High School. Pivac played senior rugby for both the Northcote and Takapuna rugby clubs. Pivac played for North Harbour Rugby Union while he was a policeman. A recurring knee injury forced Pivac to retire from playing rugby at the age of 28. In 2012 Pivac was named at flanker in the Westlake Boys High school 50 year anniversary greatest First XV.

New Zealand and Fiji

Pivac began coaching at Takapuna RFC, guiding them to the 1994 North Harbour club premiership [3] before spending two seasons with North Harbour's second XV, then Northland, the province his father represented. Pivac coached Northland to National Provincial Championship Second Division success in 1997 and earned them promotion to the First Division the following year. Pivac then coached Auckland to win the NPC in 2002 and again in 2003, as well as the Ranfurly Shield.[4] Pivac was voted New Zealand Rugby Union Coach of the Year in 2003.[5]

Pivac was hired by the Fiji Rugby Union in February 2004 to replace coach Mac McCallion. Fiji won the Pacific Tri-Nations in Pivac's first year as head coach and Pivac also helped coach the Fijian Sevens to win the 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens.[6] In January 2007, Pivac quit Fiji Rugby as the head coach, citing family commitments.[7]

Following his move back to New Zealand from Fiji, Pivac was appointed coach of North Harbour in the same month.[8] After a disappointing season with North Harbour, Pivac stepped down as coach in 2008 and was replaced by Craig Dowd and Jeff Wilson,[9] who were also replaced the next year after a further disappointing season. In 2011, Pivac succeeded Mark Anscombe as the Auckland coach in the ITM Cup.[10]

Wales

In 2014, Pivac was appointed the Assistant Coach of the Scarlets, who play out of the Parc y Scarlets stadium in Llanelli, Wales.[11] Having initially been taken on to work with the forwards, Pivac was then promoted to the Scarlets' head coach following the departure of Simon Easterby to Ireland.[12] Pivac then steered his side to a PRO12 title in Dublin, Ireland, defeating Munster in a 46-22 six-try victory at the Aviva Stadium to secure their first major trophy for 13 years in May, 2017.[13]

On 9 July 2018, it was announced that Pivac would succeed Warren Gatland as the Wales coach. He would remain as Scarlets coach for the next year and employed on a four-year contract by the WRU from July 2019, with a transition planned for after the 2023 Rugby World Cup.[2]

His first game in charge of Wales was a non-international match against the Barbarians, on 30 November 2019, in the Principality Stadium. Wales won the match 43–33.

In February 2020, in his first Six Nations match as head coach, Wales beat Italy 42–0 in Cardiff.[14] Wales finished the 2020 Six Nations Championship in 5th place.

On 13 February 2021, Pivac won his first silverware for Wales, beating Scotland 25–24 in Round 2 of the 2021 Six Nations Championship, where Wales won the Doddie Weir Cup. The following round Wales got their highest ever points total vs England, beating them 40-24 and winning the Triple Crown. On March 26, Wales were crowned champions of the Six Nations after winning 4 out of their 5 matches.

After the false dawn, Pivac saw his worst run yet in the 2022 Six Nations, finishing 5th. The most notable moment during the 2022 campaign was when his side were defeated by Italy in the Millennium Stadium, Italy's first win in the 6 Nations since 2015 and their first ever win in Cardiff. After further home defeats in the autumn internationals to Georgia and Australia, Pivac was sacked in December 2022 and replaced by his predecessor Warren Gatland.[15]

References

  1. ^ "Wayne Pivac lands new job less than a year after Wales sacking". Wales Online. 25 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Wayne Pivac: Scarlets chief to succeed Warren Gatland as Wales coach". BBC Sport. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  3. ^ "Pivac has All Black aims as overseas job beckons". NZ Herald. 1 November 2003. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Pivac to coach Fiji at World Cup". BBC. 26 August 2006. Retrieved 19 January 2007.
  5. ^ "Head Coach". Scarlets. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  6. ^ "History". Fiji Rugby. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  7. ^ "Pivac resigns as Fiji rugby coach". CNN. 19 January 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  8. ^ "North Harbour sign Pivac as coach". NZ Herald. 24 January 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Jeff Wilson to coach North Harbour". Otago Daily Times. 28 October 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  10. ^ "Pivac Named New Auckland Coach". Rugby News. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  11. ^ "Newsroom | Welsh Rugby Union". Welsh Rugby Union. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  12. ^ "Scarlets confirm Wayne Pivac appointment as head coach". BBC. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  13. ^ "Scarlets boss Wayne Pivac insists Wales are capable of copying his side's expansive attacking blueprint". Wales Online. 27 May 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  14. ^ "Wayne Pivac: Six Nations 2020: Josh Adams hat-trick helps Wales thrash Italy". BBC Sport. 1 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Wales head coach Wayne Pivac replaced by Warren Gatland". BBC Sport. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
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