WRU SET TO SIGN NEW CONDITIONING COACH
33-year-old Hore will leave Wales in the autumn to return to his native New Zealand, where he will be taking up an appointment with the New Zealand Rugby Union.
Hore came to Wales in May, 2002 and signed a year long extension to his original two-year contract last summer. A replacement for the former Canterbury NPC and Canterbury Crusaders strength and conditioning coach is currently being sought by WRU chief executive Steve Lewis.
“We have been searching throughout the rugby world for a suitable replacement for Andrew and we are close to securing a first-class candidate who we feel will fit in well with the current Welsh management team,” said Lewis.
“Andrew has done a fantastic job in raising the strength and conditioning of the game in Wales, allowing us to compete on the world stage. I would like to thank him for the superb work he has carried out here in Wales with our players over the past three years helping in no small measure to lay the foundations for our Grand Slam success last season. He will remain in Wales over the coming months and an appropriate timescale of transition will be worked out in order to ensure no disruption to the players’ fitness and conditioning programmes.”
Hore commented: “It’s been a very hard decision to come to. I felt very much that I wanted to move away from a purely hands-on conditioning position into more of a high performance management role. That is my passion and that is where I want to go with my career. In my new role, I will have responsibility for player development and will be looking after the functioning of the 14 rugby academies in New Zealand.
“With a new family, my wife and I feel this is the right time for us to move. It will be very hard to leave Wales, especially the players. All the more so because I am leaving them before they reach their physical peak which will be 18 months or two years down the line.
“But I know they will go from strength to strength and two years out from the World Cup, it is an exciting time for a new person to come in and the players are now so committed to their own personal development that they themselves will drive it forward.
“They have put in so much hard work in order to make the huge steps that everyone has seen on the field and they will do whatever it takes to take their fitness to an even greater level.”
