Former Flying Fijians mentor Vern Cotter is to join the Auckland Blues as its head coach in the new season, replacing All Blacks-bound Leon MacDonald.
According to a report by One News, Cotter will join the Auckland franchise with an already impressive CV, having started out at Bay of Plenty 20 years ago before joining the Crusaders, then winning multiple French club titles over a 10-year period.
The 61-year-old coached Scotland at the 2015 World Cup and was in charge of Fiji from 2021 till early this year.
Cotter’s arrival at the Blues means plenty of change for the current assistant coaches, which include forwards assistants Tom Coventry and Paul Tito as well as backs and skills coach Daniel Halangahu.
It’s understood the Blues and other teams are also chasing former Hurricanes captain Jason O’Halloran for their staff.
O’Halloran has been building his resume as an assistant coach in Scotland but most recently has been making significant input to the success of Suntory Sungoliath in Japan.
