New Women's Head of High Performance Tim Walsh is taking a concerted approach to hiring the next Wallaroos coach as he begins his new role.
Walsh officially stepped into the role in the past couple of days after some time off and guiding the Aussie Sevens to the World Championship.
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This included a stop at Oxford University, completing his postgraduate diploma in Organisation Leadership.
With the Sevens coach, Reg Tayler, locked in, Walsh's focus narrows towards nailing down the right candidate for the Wallaroos head coaching role.
Sam Needs had taken the job in an interim role, with Walsh taking the necessary time to nail the right candidate ahead of the 2029 home World Cup.
“We’re urgently patient. We've got to make sure it's the right person to lead the Wallaroos for the next three years," he told Rugby.com.au.
“We’re making sure that we’re doing the due diligence and the deep dive into that experience and their ability to do the job how the players deserve is really important.
“When you look at a home World Cup, you think that there's going to be some very high-profile and eligible candidates, and that didn't disappoint. The calibre is high and that's what's making the decision quite difficult.”
Walsh is also focused on the ongoing alignment between the Sevens and Wallaroos programs, with the Wallaroos shifting to a full-time centralised model in Sydney from November.
This will see athletes switch between the two programs moving forward, which is likely to ramp up ahead of August's Test against New Zealand and the upcoming WXV Global Series.
“It's an alignment piece and that's where Reg is also very capable. He's got a very extensive 15s background as well and he sees the vision of maximising talent and the benefits that the two formats have with each other," Walsh said.
“Individually it's all different but you saw other countries with New Zealand, you saw Risi [Pouri-Lane] and Jorja Miller debut the World Cup and they were the best players. Canada have been doing it but it's on an individual basis.
“You talk about 7s to 15s, I think there's a lot of 15s to 7s as well. It's about learning from each other, utilising what each game has to offer, and then aligning career planning for individuals is really important and will also be a competitive advantage."
It comes as Walsh has been encouraged by the player development within Super Rugby Women's.
The NSW Waratahs will battle the Fijian Drua in the decider, whilst the Western Force and Queensland made history with their first wins over the champion Waratah side.
“I thought the [semi-final] on the weekend was excellent and I was impressed with the Waratahs how they bounced back and there were some pretty crafty selections from Mike [Ruthven] so they’ll be rolling into that Final off the back of a really good performance," he added.
“The Force are now coming to the fore and exemplifying their full-time program and how that can benefit individuals. The more you train, the better you get and benefit the team, so to see them compete and beat the Waratahs was great for the Super competition.
“You can see the standard of the individual athlete rising, which then helps the team play better. The other goal we have is the more rugby you play, the better you get. Whether it be sevens or fifteens, you've just got to play more, train more to be better."
