Waratahs reveal fulltime replacement for ousted Rob Penney

Incoming NSW coach Darren Coleman feels he needs to restore the players’ love of rugby and rebuild their shattered confidence when he takes over the reins at the struggling franchise next month.

Coleman was unveiled as Waratahs coach on Thursday morning, though there had been strong suggestions over the past week that the club rugby stalwart was assured to take over.

The New South Wales Rugby Union said in a statement that Coleman had been appointed for three years following “an extensive search and consultation process, with applications received from coaches within Australia and from around the world.”

The 48-year-old coach has led Penrith, Northern Suburbs and Eastern Suburbs before delivering Shute Shield premierships to Warringah in 2017 and Gordon in 2020.

He turned Gordon’s fortunes around in just two years after the team had finished last in 2018.

Coleman also spent time in assistant roles at the Waratahs and Brumbies, as well as head coaching positions in Italy, Japan, at the NSW Country Eagles and his current role with the LA Giltini’s in Major League Rugby in the US.

“I’m passionate about the opportunity to coach the Waratahs. I’m coming home to what I regard as my dream job, one I’ve been preparing for over many years,” Coleman said in a statement.

“I also know that this role comes with an enormous responsibility to establish a winning team that will proudly represent the people of NSW as a collective of the professional and community game.

“We have a great deal of work to do to regain our place as the best provincial rugby team in the country. That means a team that Waratahs’ members and fans are proud of and the team that every rugby-loving kid in NSW wants to play for growing up.

“I want our players to get back their love of the game, to rebuild their confidence in themselves and in the team. I want them to bring back that winning culture at the Waratahs.”

There's going to be plenty of firepower on display at Mount Smart on Saturday night. #AllBlacks #NZLvTON pic.twitter.com/sOW03RuF1g

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 1, 2021

Coleman will have much to do – the Waratahs suffered an unprecedented 13 consecutive losses in a winless 2021 campaign.

Coach Rob Penney was sacked in March with assistants Jason Gilmore and Chris Whitaker taking over on an interim basis thereafter.

Coleman will take up his role at the Waratahs when his commitments in LA are completed in August and after two weeks of quarantine on returning to Sydney.