{"id":254099,"date":"2026-01-27T12:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T12:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/254099\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T12:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T12:01:09","slug":"coach-vern-cotter-to-swap-blues-for-reds-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/254099\/","title":{"rendered":"Coach Vern Cotter to swap Blues for Reds next year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blues head coach Vern Cotter has announced he will leave the franchise for the Reds after this season’s Super Rugby Pacific competition.<\/p>\n

Cotter, who has now also effectively ruled himself out of a job with the new All Blacks coaching regime<\/a> after Scott Robertson’s axing<\/a>, will join the Queensland franchise for next season. Cotter will replace Les Kiss, who is the new head coach of the Wallabies.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the Blues were at pains to say Cotter’s early announcement would provide clarity. <\/p>\n

However, it is clear that Cotter, who led the Blues to a championship in his first season in 2024, feels he has taken the franchise as far as he can. <\/p>\n

Revealed: Where Vern Cotter’s now heading as he confirms Blues exit – Watch on TVNZ+<\/a><\/p>\n

The Blues were disappointing in last year’s regular season before a late lift saw them qualify for the playoffs where they lost to eventual champions the Crusaders in a semifinal in Christchurch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cotter, who joined the Blues on a three-year deal, said: \u201cWhen I arrived, I was brought in to help create a winning culture, and over the past few years we\u2019ve had a lot of mature, honest conversations about where the club was and where it needed to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe landscape has changed significantly since I came in, and it genuinely feels like the club is well set up for its next phase of evolution. There has been a lot of good during my time here, and I\u2019m proud of what we\u2019ve built together.<\/p>\n

\u201cTiming is always important in this game, and it feels like the right moment for both me and the club to plan for what comes next.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis club has a proud history and a special connection with its people. Right now, my focus is firmly on the 2026 season and doing everything I can to help this team perform at its best and leave the club in a strong position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blues chief executive Karl Budge said: \u201cThis has been part of a long-term strategy, and both Vern and the club felt it was the right thing to be open and clear before the season begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hugely appreciate everything Vern has done and continues to do for the club. He has delivered exactly what he was brought in to do. The Blues have a strong performance environment, clear DNA of how we want to play and know what it takes to be champions.\u201d<\/p>\n

A head coach appointment process is already under way, the Blues said.<\/p>\n

The Blues’ opening game of the season against the Chiefs at Eden Park on Saturday, February 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blues head coach Vern Cotter has announced he will leave the franchise for the Reds after this season’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[789,33339,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-254099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-all-blacks","9":"tag-blues","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}