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ESPN staff
Michael Cheika has bolstered his Wallabies coaching staff ahead of the Rugby World Cup, adding former Waratahs fly-half Shaun Berne the team effective immediately.
Berne was unveiled on Friday evening on a huge day of news in Australian rugby; Israel Folau’s crowdfunding page and Daryl Gibson’s shock departure from the Waratahs dominating the headlines.
It remains to be seen whether Gibson reunites with Cheika at Test level and takes on the attack coach role vacated by Stephen Larkham earlier this year, a position the Kiwi confirmed he is interested in, but Berne will get to work straight away after wrapping up his commitments with Melbourne Rebels last weekend.
“Shaun’s a great young coach and he’s going to add new energy into how we coach the players,” Cheika said of his new staffer. “His job will be to help players achieve their top levels of play and stay at that level more consistently,” Cheika said.
Berne is best remembered in Australian rugby for a post-match celebration after he kicked the Waratahs to a memorable victory over the Crusaders after the siren in Sydney, the fly-half pointing his arms above his head to signify the “Our House” slogan NSW were running at the time.
He has since carved out a coaching career firstly at Irish club Leinster, before assistant roles at Western Force and then the Rebels.
“This is a huge opportunity for me personally but more importantly, I want to do whatever I can to make the Wallabies successful this year,” Berne said.
“I want to contribute to the team by focusing on the things that will serve us best when we are under pressure, like passing, catching, alignment, running lines and deception – on and off the ball.
“I just want to add wherever I can to the coaching team around me – it sounds simple but simple things done really well, all the time, will get us to where Cheik wants us to be as a team.”
Meanwhile, Dean Benton was unveiled as the Wallabies Head Performance Coach and Ed Hollis as team physiotherapist.