HEINEKEN CUP/IRISH COACHES:Three former Ireland internationals are plotting the downfall of
the provinces this week, writes
JOHN O'SULLIVAN
RUGBY’S VERSION of The Gathering is set for a pre-emptive strike ahead of next year’s more orthodox invitation to repatriate the Irish diaspora. It’s certainly has a less chintzy theme.
It’s unlikely that the rugby teams of Munster, Connacht and Leinster will “open its arms to hundreds of thousands of friends and family from all over the world, calling them home to gatherings in villages, towns and cities,” as the mission statement for next year’s planned extravaganza demands.
No, Michael Bradley (Edinburgh) and Conor O’Shea (Harlequins) won’t receive the céad míle fáilte when they pitch up to Thomond Park and The Sportsground respectively for Heineken Cup fare.
Neither will Simon Easterby (Scarlets) have the welcome mat out for older brother and Leinster team manager Guy, when the European champions arrive at Parc y Scarlets this afternoon.
It’s an unusual weekend as three former Ireland internationals are charged with plotting the downfall of the provinces.
Bradley goes back to Munster, for whom he played, with an Edinburgh side still smarting from the 45-0 thumping they received from Mark McCall’s Saracens at Murrayfield. The timing couldn’t be worse as Munster fulminate over their Parisian nightmare.
O’Shea returns to the scene of last year’s crime where Connacht pick-pocketed Harlequins’ ticket to the play-offs. The London club will want to be fully reimbursed.
Simon Easterby is in his first season as head coach with the Scarlets; it’s a young team choc-full of ability but still perhaps a little naïve as Munster proved last season.
It’s perhaps apposite that the chief executive of Connacht rugby Tom Sears noted in this paper earlier in the week, he had received CVs from all over the world applying for the position of head coach that Eric Elwood will vacate at the end of the season.
The global expression of interest can be viewed in a positive light but this weekend’s Heineken Cup action offers a reminder that Irish coaches can more than simply aspire to top positions.
Simon Easterby
Age: 37
Birthplace: Harrogate, England
Clubs: Leeds Carnegie, Llanelli RFC, Scarlets
Position: Flanker
Ireland caps: 65 (8 tries), two as captain
Playing days: He made his Ireland debut against Scotland (2000) at Lansdowne Road, one of five new caps (John Hayes, Shane Horgan, Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer). He had played under-21 for Ireland under Eddie O'Sullivan and went on to have a senior Test career that lasted eight years, encompassing two World Cups (2003, 2007) and also two Test appearances for the Lions (one try) against New Zealand in 2005, having come out as a replacement for the injured Lawrence Dallaglio.
Coaching pedigree: Forced to retire as a player due to a knee injury n August 2010, he was appointed defence coach with the Scarlets, thereby continuing a long unbroken run that dated back to 1999 when he joined Llanelli from Leeds Carnegie. He played 201 times for the club, scoring 19 tries.
Easterby was a fine athlete but also a ferociously committed defender who appeared oblivious to his own personal safety. The scars prove it. It was fitting that then head coach Nigel Davies would turn to the Irish international in a bid to make the Welsh franchise's defence a little meaner.
The Scarlets had a reputation for producing excellent attacking rugby that revolved around their young stars like George North, Jonathan Davies, Scott Williams but they needed more of the dog in attitude. Having observed the former Irish flanker at first hand, it's fair to say that he's pretty animated in the stands too.
Davies, after a difficult first couple of years, kept faith in the young players but four years in moved to Gloucester as head coach. Easterby was promoted to head coach last June, a promotion which Davies endorsed: "I wish Simon all the very best and he has my full support in his appointment as the new head coach.
"Simon (Easterby) and Mark (Jones) with the added impetus of Danny Wilson will create a talented, dynamic and energetic coaching environment . . ."
Easterby has continued to entrust the short term future of the club to youth. The Scarlets have started the season well and it'll be interesting to note how the former Irish international adapts to the demands as the primary coach.
Michael Bradley
Age: 49
Birthplace: Cork
Clubs: Cork Constitution, Munster
Position: Scrumhalf
Ireland caps: 40 (5 tries), 15 as captain.
Playing days: He was scrumhalf on Ireland's Triple Crown-winning team in 1985, having been handed his debut by coach Mick Doyle the previous November against Australia at Lansdowne Road. He played in two World Cups (1987, 1995), as his Test career suffered a major hiatus as he won just a single cap between the end of the 1988 Five Nations Championship and the summer tour to New Zealand in 1992. His last match was against the All Blacks at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa.
Coaching pedigree: Led his club Cork Constitution to the AIB League Division One title in 1999. He coached the Ireland Under-21 team and was director of rugby in Connacht from 2003– 2010.
In his first season in charge with the Irish province, they finished ninth in the Magners League, winning eight of 22 matches.
However, tethered by budgetary constraints, Connacht finished in the bottom two of the league for the next three seasons and then last in the final three campaigns.
But in Europe Bradley led the province to the semi-finals of the Amlin Challenge Cup (2004) losing a two-leg semi-final against Harlequins by an aggregate score of just four points.
He also guided Connacht to the semi-finals in 2005 and 2010 where they lost to Sale Sharks and Toulon respectively. They also made the quarter-finals in 2006 and 2009. He was twice linked to the Munster head coach role but that came to pass in that regard.
He coached Ireland 'A' (Wolfhounds) and, when Eddie O'Sullivan was on Lions duty in 2005, was assistant coach to Niall O'Donovan for Ireland's two -match tour to Japan. He was interim head coach to the national side in 2008 (Eddie O'Sullivan's tenure came to an end and before Declan Kidney took over) for a match against the Barbarians and the two–Test tour to Australia and New Zealand.
In May 2011 he pipped O'Sullivan to nab the Edinburgh head coach role. Despite a disappointing Pro12 season – the Scottish side finished second from bottom – Bradley masterminded a brilliant Heineken Cup run that saw Edinburgh memorably beat Toulouse in the quarter-final before they lost to Ulster at the Aviva Stadium.
Conor O'Shea
Age: 41
Birthplace: Limerick
Clubs: Lansdowne, Leinster, London Irish
Position: Fullback
Ireland caps: 35 (six tries, one conversion, one drop goal, three penalties)
Playing days: He went from school at Terenure College to Lansdowne and played in Leinster’s inaugural European Cup campaign when they reached the semi-final. He joined London Irish in 1995, playing 127 matches, scoring 412 points including 62 tries. He made his Ireland debut against Romania (1993), played in two World Cups (1995, 1999) in a Test match career that spanned seven years, culminating in a final cap against England in 2000.
Coaching pedigree: Already armed with degrees in commerce and law (UCD) he then did a Masters in Sports Science and Management at the United States Sports Academy in Alabama during his playing career. A knee injury saw him retire in 2000 and he went from being captain at London Irish to director of rugby and latterly managing director at the club in a five year spell.
London Irish won the Powergen Cup (2002) and along with Brendan Venter, O’Shea was named coach of the year. In 2005 he became director of 14 regional academies with the English RFU. In 2008 he left to become National Director with the English Institute of Sport.
Within 18 months he took over as director of rugby at Harlequins in the wake of the “Bloodgate” scandal that saw his predecessor Dean Richards, among others, handed a three-year ban.
In his first full year in charge – there were six games left when he took over from Richards – O’Shea steered Quins to a dramatic late victory over Stade Francais to claim the Amlin Challenge Cup and last season he masterminded the London club’s victory over the Leicester Tigers in the Grand Final of the Aviva Premiership.
He is a relentlessly encouraging presence for his players on and off the pitch as evidenced from a soundbite in a recent interview: “I want players to think more broadly. You can only train for two hours a day, so there’s 22 left. “Don’t sit there stewing and worrying. Get a hobby, learn to cook, do something that might be useful when you retire. I learned French at night classes and I met some great people. And that broader view makes you a better player.”
