The Australian Rugby Union is "planning to fill two major holes in its development program with the appointment of an elite coaching development head and a national talent identification expert," according to Wayne Smith of THE AUSTRALIAN. ARU CEO Bill Pulver outlined his overall strategy for growing the game, "in which the two still-to-be-hired employees will play a critical role." The ARU has already "closed one of the gaps by employing Mick Byrne, the ex-All Blacks skills coach, as the national skills coach." Pulver said, "Mick Byrne is the first and a really important one. I would tell you openly that if you look at some of those New Zealand teams and their skills are just substantially better than ours." A talent ID director "appears to meet a long overdue need." Pulver: "We have a list of people we’re looking at. It’s pretty hard to do though because a truly high-caliber elite coach development person, there are not that many in the world." Pulver not only outlined a list of planned reform but "committed himself to staying around to implement them." He "categorically denied" rumors he intended to quit the ARU after the Rio Olympics (THE AUSTRALIAN, 8/8).
