Swift end to O'Sullivan's long reign

RUGBY: THE LONGEST reign as head coach of the Irish rugby team formally came to a swift and relatively dignified conclusion yesterday when Eddie O'Sullivan resigned after six-and-a-half years and 78 matches in charge.

O'Sullivan, his agent John Baker and his lawyer spent much of the day in negotiations with IRFU chief executive Philip Browne and the union's legal advisors finalising the terms of his compensation package on the remaining four years of his deal.

In the end, there was no Six Nations review, as suggested by an IRFU statement on Monday. Instead, both parties moved quickly to terminate his employment after the worst championship showing since 1999 compounded a disastrous World Cup campaign.

Despite wins at home to the bottom-placed duo of Italy and Scotland either side of a seventh straight defeat to France, his fate was effectively sealed by the limp, 16-12 defeat to Wales at Croke Park.

There was an irony in that, of course, given his former boss as Ireland coach, Warren Gatland, was in charge of Wales. It is believed O'Sullivan learned his fate that evening.

As members of his coaching team and playing squad have intimated, last week's 33-10 loss in Twickenham to England had a real sense of finality about it.

O'Sullivan was co-opted onto the Irish ticket as assistant coach to Gatland after the 1999 World Cup defeat to Argentina in Lens. He had enjoyed a successful career as head coach with Blackrock and Buccaneers, which took in stints as assistant coach with Connacht and the USA Eagles. He supplanted Gatland two years later.

How will history judge him? In terms of win-loss ratio Ireland certainly never had it so good, hence the references to him as Ireland's most successful coach. He was at his best when presented with a collection of several highly-motivated, high-achieving and truly world-class players, backed up by a squad of Test quality.

Supported to the hilt by the IRFU, his famed attention to detail, planning and back-up became more advanced, and he masterminded several tactical coups.

There were many memorable days, notably in the Six Nations where Ireland won three Triple Crowns, along with some notable scalps at home to Southern Hemisphere teams, though a first away win against any of the latter heavyweights since 1979 remained one unticked box. So too did a Grand Slam, or even a first Six Nations title since 1985.

Ireland's win-loss ratio in the Six Nations under his tenure remains second only to France's. Yet frustratingly, for him and the players who served under him, in that time England won a World Cup, a Grand Slam and reached a World Cup final, France won two Grand Slams and two titles, and Wales won two Grand Slams.

In the final analysis, O'Sullivan cannot have too many complaints. After two years as assistant coach, he was given two World Cup campaigns, seven Six Nations campaigns and 78 matches in charge. He was also granted relatively unfettered power. Having taken on Declan Kidney in an ill-fitting role as assistant/backs coach, he declared the two men "sang from the same hymn sheet", even though it was widely known they hardly spoke, never mind sang, together.

After O'Sullivan was granted a four-year extension prior to the 2003 World Cup, Kidney was then effectively frozen out. After the IRFU had mooted a glorified desk job, Kidney flirted with Ulster and the Dragons in Wales before taking over in Leinster.

Kidney was not replaced, and then Mike Ford, the highly respected and popular defensive coach who was once a creative outhalf in rugby league, was denied more of a say in Ireland's attacking game. Though they parted on good terms, a frustrated Ford decamped to Saracens and is now part of the English coaching ticket that reached the World Cup final.

O'Sullivan's man management skills are not his strength: stories are legion of players who have had little or no dialogue with him. In addition to Kidney, the former team manager Brian O'Brien was an invaluable ear for players, but he was let go and replaced by IRFU employee Ger Carmody.

The whitewash that was the Genesis report post-World Cup highlighted these shortcomings, yet they were largely of O'Sullivan's making, and for much of this the IRFU hierarchy must carry the blame. The decision to give him yet another four-year deal in advance of the 2007 World Cup was badly flawed, and would not have encouraged questioning of his ways by the back-up staff.

It is his stated desire to coach the Lions to South Africa next summer, and Noel Murphy, Ireland's representative on the Lions' selection panel, will put O'Sullivan's name forward. But whereas he would have been favourite a year ago, the likelihood is that a heavily Wasps-influenced ticket, perhaps headed by Ian McGeechan and featuring Shaun Edwards and quite possibly Gatland, will instead be chosen.

O'Sullivan's coaching cv would make him an attractive proposition for an English Premiership club, or the IRFU might create alternative employment for him. An intelligent, well-read man with a vast expanse of sporting knowledge, he would also make a sharp-eyed pundit one day. Now there's a thought.

He departs with a handsome pay-off, probably in excess of the reputed one-year salary of around €350,000. His back-up staff, without such long-term deals, have already begun to disband.

Though Ireland have slumped to a world ranking of eighth, a sufficient core of the so-called golden generation remain, along with a clutch of hungry new players, for Ireland to remain competitive in this summer's tour to New Zealand and Australia and beyond.