KEY POINTS:
The five candidates for the Wallabies coaching job yesterday impressed their inquisitors but may have to wait until next month to find out who wins the rugby post.
After Wallabies attack coach Scott Johnson withdrew from the race on Friday morning, the five-man selection panel conducted 90-minute interviews with the remaining aspirants.
New South Wales coach Ewen McKenzie was first up, followed by Wallabies defence coach John Muggleton, Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher, former Wallabies coach and media personality Alan Jones and finally Blues coach and betting favourite David Nucifora.
Australian Rugby Union (ARU) chief executive John O'Neill missed the interviews because he is still recuperating in hospital from surgery on a pinched nerve in his neck.
O'Neill had originally hoped the successful candidate would be announced by the end of this month, but ARU high performance unit general manager Pat Howard said the decision could be delayed until December, depending on O'Neill's recuperation.
"They were well prepared and I think each of the panel members was very impressed with all of the candidates," Howard said.
"It's an extremely important decision and you need your CEO to be fully involved with this, so I'm sure John will want to see one or two of the candidates."
Each candidate spoke to the media after their interviews.
Nucifora refused to pay any heed to his favourite tag and suggested if he got the job the Wallabies would play the same kind of expansive rugby he had employed at the Blues and Brumbies.
Nucifora said his man management issues which resulted with his parting from the Brumbies in 2004 hadn't been directly raised at the meeting and he thought spending the last three years in New Zealand had been beneficial to him.
"I think that's been an advantage for me, both as a coach over there, but also I think to be able to make some judgments of my own about Australian rugby," Nucifora said.
Muggleton provided perhaps the most outspoken comments with a thinly veiled swipe at broadcaster Jones.
"I think I've got an advantage over Alan because I've coached this century," Muggleton said, in reference to the fact the former Wallabies mentor had not held a coaching post for two decades.
He also added that legendary five-eighth Mark Ella, who scored a try in every test on Australia's 1984 Grand slam-winning team coached by Jones, would find it a lot more difficult to score against the defensive tactics he had employed in recent years.
But Jones refused to enter a war of words with any critics.
"You just roll with the punches," Jones said.
- AAP
