Vodacom Super Rugby
Foley to be grilled by board
2012-06-26 09:17
Sydney - Waratahs coach Michael Foley will appear before the NSW Rugby board on Tuesday to account for his side's woeful performance this season.
A Waratahs spokesperson would not reveal the time the
board was meeting, but a decision on Foley's future, as well as the
fate of other coaching staff, is not expected to be made immediately.
The side is in 11th spot on the Super Rugby ladder after going into the three-week Test break on a six-game losing streak.
Seven of the side's 10 losses this season were by six
points or less and three of those were one-point nailbiters. The other
three losses were to the Chiefs by 17 points, the Brumbies by 17 and
their most recent defeat, at the hands of the Hurricanes, was a 21-point
embarrassment.
Foley has coached the side through a difficult season
since taking on the top job late last year. He lost the experience of
Test players Drew Mitchell, Lachie Turner, Rocky Elsom and Dan Vickerman
,and was forced to blood talented but inexperienced young backs Bernard
Foley and Tom Kingston, while trying a number of combinations in the
backs, with varying degrees of success.
Back-rower Pat McCutcheon and prop Paddy Ryan were also
lost to injury early in the season, while the five-eighth-halfback
partnership has struggled to find a consistent footing on the field,
buffeted as it was by an early-season groin injury to Berrick Barnes and
a mid-season switch from Sarel Pretorius to Brendan McKibbin as
first-choice No.9.
Foley and his strength and conditioning staff were also
left to nurse many of their Test forwards back to full fitness after a
long international season last year.
Captain Benn Robinson has done well in the leadership
role but only took it up after the Waratahs tried Daniel Halangahu there
early on and, most recently, flirted with starting regular skipper
Elsom.
The Waratahs get their Wallabies players back on Thursday
and must now prepare for two final derby matches against the Brumbies
and the Reds. Their performances could be crucial to Foley's future.