Shelford Goes in Sarries Clearout

Wayne Shelford, hired as the big-name saviour of Saracens barely a year ago, was shown the door at Vicarage Road yesterday as the north London club sacked their entire coaching staff following yet another troubled domestic season.

The former All Black great, as a player and captain, is the latest to discover that success as a coach in English club rugby is not based on reputation, his hard-nosed style of man-management failing to inspire a team who also laboured under the previous incumbent, the former Springbok captain Francois Pienaar

Shelford was increasingly at odds with his senior players and did little to improve relations when he criticised the lack of leadership within his team as they battled to avoid relegation last season. They finished eighth but the sharp retort by the club captain Kyran Bracken on live television - "That's the pot calling the kettle black" - made another summer reshuffle almost inevitable.

The axe has also fallen on Shelford's brother Darrell, assistant coach Tim Wright and fitness expert Pat Fox. "Following a review of the season and the team's performance, we are now seeking a new coaching set up for next season," confirmed Saracens chief executive Mark Sinderberry, who hopes to confirm Shelford's successor within the next month.

The former Wallaby centre Rod Kafer, who like Sinderberry made his name with the ACT Brumbies, has already been hired as a player-coach from Leicester and there is a strong likelihood the new head coach will also hail from Australia.

The Shelford saga, though, raises further questions about the millionaire backer Nigel Wray's tendency to invest in highly paid coaches without any track record of success in the peculiarly demanding environment of English domestic rugby, not to mention too many players whose best years prove to be behind them.

The former All Black captain Taine Randell is the latest potential recruit but Saracens urgently need reinforcements over the World Cup period when Bracken, Richard Hill, Thomas Castaignède, Robbie Russell and their latest French import, the French hooker Raphael Ibanez, are all likely to be absent in Australia.

A close-season dressing-room exodus has already seen the departures of Tim Horan, Abdel Benazzi, Christian Califano, Tom Shanklin and Matt Cairns, although the England A lock Alex Codling, the Fiji lock Simon Raiwalui, the Argentinian prop Emiliano Bergamaschi and the Wasps prop Andy Kershaw have joined the club. The 22-year-old hooker James Parkes, who went on loan to Worcester last season, has also signed a two-year deal.

South Africa, meanwhile, have made eight changes, including five to the pack, in their side to meet Argentina in Port Elizabeth tomorrow. The props Rob Kempson and Cobus Visagie are given their first starts of the season while the centre Gcobani Bobo and scrum-half Craig Davidson are also promoted. Corne Krige returns from injury to captain the side from the flank.