Former Fiji and Scotland head coach Vern Cotter is set to be named as the new Blues head coach ahead of the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season.
The 61-year-old is reportedly poised to take over from Leon MacDonald, who will join Scott Robertson’s All Blacks coaching team after the Rugby World Cup.
New Blues head coach
Multiple reports in New Zealand state that Cotter will take charge of the Auckland-based side, with the New Zealand Herald reporting that he has signed a two-year deal and will be unveiled next week.
Cotter will arrive at the Blues with a wealth of experience, having started his coaching career in 2000 with the Bay of Plenty.
However, this will be his first role in New Zealand since leaving the Crusaders in 2006.
His arrival is a major boost to the local coaching talent pool as the Super Rugby Pacific teams begin new regimes, with the Hurricanes and Crusaders naming their new head coaches.
The experienced Rob Penney will replace Robertson at the Crusaders in 2024, with Clark Laidlaw taking over from Jason Holland at the Hurricanes.
1News reports that the Blues and other teams are also chasing former Hurricanes captain Jason O’Halloran for their staff.
O’Halloran is currently an assistant coach with Japan Rugby League One side Suntory Sungoliath and previously worked with Glasgow Warriors and Scotland national team.
Vern Cotter’s CV
Cotter spent two years at the Crusaders as their forward’s coach before heading to France in 2006 to join Clermont.
Between 2006 and 2014, Clermont was a competitive outfit in the Top 14 and Europe. Domestically, they reached four finals, winning one and won the Champions Cups in 2006/07 and 2012/13.
He made the step up to international rugby in 2014 when he was named Scotland’s new head coach, a role he held until 2017, leading the side at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
A return to France followed as he took over at Montpellier, replacing Jake White at the Top 14 outfit.
In his first season in charge of the club, they reached the Top 14 final but were defeated by Castres in the showpiece.
Most recently, Cotter was the head coach of Fiji and was in charge of the Pacific Island nation between 2020 and 2023 before handing in his resignation at the start of the year.
