The Waratahs have narrowed their search for a new coach down to three applicants but will wait until the 11th hour to see if Simon Cron also throws his name into the mix.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal the struggling franchise have settled on Darren Coleman, John Mulvihill and John Manenti as the three leading applicants.
The trio will all be interviewed in the coming weeks before a final decision is made.
But the one name not on the list of applicants which both the Waratahs and Rugby Australia (RA) will reach out to in the coming days is Simon Cron.
Cron, who led Northern Suburbs to a Shute Shield title in 2016, coached the Junior Wallabies and formed part of Daryl Gibson’s staff before being poached by former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen at Toyota Verblitz, has not applied for the role.
But he is sought after by new Waratahs chair Tony Crawford and RA, who will both reach out in the next 48 hours to ask whether he is genuinely interested in the role.
Cron, the nephew of former All Blacks scrum coach Mike Cron, signed a one-year extension with Toyota just before the Waratahs sacked Rob Penney and subsequently decided it would be disrespectful to apply for the NSW job.
If the governing bodies cannot convince Cron to apply, the job will be handed to one of Coleman, Mulvihill and Manenti.
