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Former Wallabies forwards coach Laurie Fisher is currently lending her expertise Zimbabwe national team as the Sables prepare for the Test against this weekend Namibia Harare.
The 68-year-old stepped down from his role at the Wallabies when Joe Schmidt handed over the head coaching baton to Les Kiss in July, but has now returned to the Test arena as a consultant to the African champions.
There is less than a year left before they appear on a Rugby World Cup for the first time since 1991, Zimbabwe recognized the need to strengthen its coaching staff. Ex Exeter Chiefs skills coach Ricky Pellow (backs/attack) is another recent addition to the team supporting head coach Pieter Benade.
Saturday’s match against Namibia serves as a warm-up for the second stage of the Rugby World Cup, which resumes early next month.
Zimbabwe have two matches in Great Britain, on November 7 and 14, against Samoa at the DIY Kitchens Stadium in Wakefield, home of the reigning Super League champions, and vs Uruguay at Ealing’s Trailfinders ground. Sables will then head to Angoulême France to play Chile November 21.
Zimbabwe competed well but lost all three Nations Cup games in July, 36-26 to Tonga, 31-15 to USA and 23-19 in Canada.
“It was a very encouraging Nations Cup competition for us in July,” Zimbabwe director of high performance Liam Middleton said.
“As part of our follow-up review, we identified the breakdown as an area where we wanted to make some major improvements over the next few months.
“With the help of World Rugby, we were able to bring Laurie Fisher here.
“He is a class coach, a breakdown specialist, a source of incredible rugby knowledge and he is here in camp this week as we prepare for our Test match against Namibia.
“He’ll be working with our players and coaches, he’ll be doing some coaching development sessions with local club and school coaches, and he’s going to make a huge difference to how we play in that area.”
Fisher, who has been coaching for 25 years, added: “I’m here in the short term trying to help the Zimbabwe Sables with their breakdown and crash.
“They’re a really exciting group to work with, they’ve got a lot of power, a lot of energy and we’re just trying to lay some foundations that will help them in the Test against Namibia and the Nations Cup that they can carry over to the World Cup next year.”
