The former New Zealand softball coach Don Tricker is to become the New Zealand rugby union's high performance manager.
Tricker guided the Black Sox to two world titles and currently works at Sparc as a high performance manager.
In 2007, after the All Black quarterfinal exit at the world cup, Tricker and Auckland lawyer Mike Heron undertook a review of the campaign for the NZRU.
Among their conclusions were that the team's leadership failed to make the right decisions during the loss to France but they also highlighted factors outside the All Blacks' control, including controversial refereeing decisions as playing a part in the loss.
The report was also critical of Graham Henry's conditioning programme which had players rested for large parts of the domestic season in the lead up to the tournament.
Tricker will officially start his new role at the rugby union in the New Year.
