Rugby-Patience needed for Australia's rookie coaches, says Byrne

MELBOURNE, June 5 (Reuters) - The rookie coaches at Australia's misfiring Super Rugby teams will learn from their struggles this season and should be given patience to turn their sides around, according to Wallabies skills coach Mick Byrne. As Super Rugby pauses for the international window, the ACT Brumbies (6-7) are the only Australian team capable of finishing the regular season with a positive winning record. With two rounds to play in July, the five Australian teams hold a 0-23 record against New Zealand opponents, while four have failed to win more than four matches. Under Nick Stiles, who shared coaching duties last year with Michael O'Connor, the Queensland Reds (3-10) have been a major disappointment despite their recruitment of a string of seasoned Wallabies. First-year coach Dave Wessels has had a tough season at Perth-based Western Force (4-9), while Daryl Gibson has been pilloried for the New South Wales Waratahs' (4-9) shoddy defence and on-field discipline in his second season in charge. The poor performances have shone the spotlight on Australia's coaching pathways, and prompted Wallabies coach Michael Cheika to help set up a national think-tank aimed at raising standards. However, former All Blacks skills coach Byrne said positives could come from the season of woe. "It's been a difficult year," he said in comments published by broadcaster Fox Sports (foxsports.com.au) on Monday. "It takes a while to get your preparation right, getting your programming right, getting your players up every week and getting on a plane and travelling for 36 hours around the world to play rugby. "These little things when you first start doing it, you finish the year and you go: 'I didn't know it was going to be that tough.' "And we've got a lot of coaches that are experiencing that either in their first or second year this year and that's a positive as well, and the learnings they're going to get from that are going to be huge for their careers." Byrne, who worked with the All Blacks through three World Cups, said the second chance given to coach Graham Henry and his staff after the shock quarter-final exit in 2007 paved the way for their triumph on home soil four years later. "New Zealand rugby made a brave decision and those coaches stuck together really tight through that process and they were re-appointed," he added. "When you come out of that adversity, all that knowledge is with the existing group who then move forward with all that knowledge." (Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by John O'Brien)