RUGBY
O’Connor’s a goner after two years
By Daire Walsh
THE search for a new head coach at Leinster is set to begin in the coming weeks, after Matt O’Connor was relieved of his duties following a meeting of the Professional Games Board last week.
Forwards coach Leo Cullen has been appointed in a caretaker capacity, and although an experienced figurehead would be selected in an ideal scenario, the likes of Cullen and Girvan Dempsey may be asked to step into the breach for an extended period of time.
It has been suggested that the thorny issue of player management (which caused a public disagreement with Ireland coach Joe Schmidt) played a major part in O’Connor’s downfall, and with a large number of the province’s players set to depart for the upcoming World Cup, the new Leinster coach would be without several front-line international stars for the opening weeks of the 2015/16 Guinness Pro12 season.
It seems that O’Connor and Leinster were never likely to be a perfect fit, but it should be remembered that he did finish his maiden campaign with silverware under his belt. A Pro12 Grand Final triumph over Glasgow Warriors ensured that Leinster held on to their league crown, and he also guided them to a quarter-final appearance in the Heineken Cup in the same term.
A courageous display against Toulon in a Champions Cup semi-final defeat after extra-time was the highlight of this season, but their fifth-place finish in the Pro12 was an obvious disappointment for all of those with an interest in Leinster.
O’Connor’s departure may well prove to be a gamble in the long-term, but even when Ireland are away at the World Cup, there will be considerable interest around UCD and the RDS regardless of who is in charge of the team.
Meanwhile, there is Kildare interest in the Irish Men’s and Women’s Sevens squads, which were unveiled in the past week as they kick-start their respective journeys towards a possible place in next year’s Olympic Games in Rio.
Naas native Adam Byrne is included in a 27-strong men’s selection – who play under the name of Ireland Wolfhounds – and he will be hoping to feature in the Rugby Europe Olympic Repechage tournament in Lisbon on July 18 & 19.
They will need to negotiate their way through a Rugby Europe Division C Pool B that comprises of the Irish, Turkey, Belarus and Montenegro, but before then, they will compete at the GB 7s Series – which starts in Edinburgh on Saturday.
Kilcullen’s Jenny Murphy is one of 12 players in the women’s sevens squad, and they participated in the 2015 Amsterdam Sevens in the past few days.
They worked their way through six games in two days as part of this tournament (and finished runners-up to eventual winners Canada), and it was ideal preparation ahead of next month’s European Championships in Russia and France.
The winner of this competition gains a place in the 2016 Olympics, but Ireland could also book a place in Rio via the World Repechage if they were unsuccessful in Europe.