The Kiwi coach guided the West Wales region through a titanic battle with Connacht and Edinburgh for the final European Rugby Champions Cup automatic qualification spot. The bumps and bruises from their vital win over Benetton Treviso are still fresh, but Pivac is already plotting a plan for next season.
A stellar home record was blighted by their form on the road, that saw them pickup just five points from September to April until an end of the season flourish. And Pivac has his sights set on breaking into the top four.
He said: “We have put a squad together for next year looking to improve our position in the Pro12. The top six was the focus this season, it will be more a top-four focus next season and we will do everything we can in terms of our planning to try to achieve that. It is about making sure we take the lessons on board from this year and we improve as a group.”
The Rugby World Cup could hamper their bid for the PRO12 crown, with members of Warren Gatland’s national squad set to miss up to two months of the season. But Pivac is hopeful he will be near full strength for the season kickoff.
He said: “We are expecting the international boys to have a bit of a break for about four weeks and then the boys who are picked in the enlarged training squad will get stuck into it. We would like to think we would get the boys who are not picked in the final squad back around pre-season time.”
