Super Rugby champions New South Wales Waratahs has announced Daryl Gibson as its head coach for the 2016 Super Rugby season.
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Gibson will take over the reigns from Michael Cheika, who will leave the club at the end of the season to focus solely on his role with the Wallabies.
The former All Blacks representative has agreed to a three-year deal with the Waratahs after having served two years as an assistant under Cheika.
Gibson said he was looking forward to building on the foundation set by Cheika.
“I’m very proud to be appointed to this role, it has been a privilege to coach under Michael and help him to create the club culture and identity over the past few seasons,” Gibson said in a club statement.
“The selection process for this role has been extremely rigorous, and I’m really looking forward to working with Greg [Harris] to shore up our player roster and plan for the next three years.
“I’m very aware of the tasks we have in front of us to achieve success this season; so we will be sharing the focus on both current and future challenges.”
Waratahs chief executive Greg Harris said the selection of Gibson would ensure a smooth transition going into the 2016 season.
Daryl has been an integral part of the creation of a culture which the club is now identified by, and his appointment will ensure that the players can build on the positive foundation which has been established by Michael Cheika,” Harris said.
“Whilst this is Daryl’s first head coaching appointment he has played under, and coached with, several highly credentialed coaches,” Harris said.
“He brings an incredible wealth of football knowledge and experience to the position, and is very much a values and culture driven coach – which is what the selection panel was also very impressed with.”
Gibson previously held roles at Glasgow Warriors and Canterbury Crusaders prior to joining the Waratahs.
He played 19 Tests for New Zealand between 1999 and 2002 and featured in the 1999 World Cup.
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