Low profile Keane perfect fit for Connacht

CONNACHT’S appointment of their new Head Coach, the former All-Black with the quintessentially Irish name, Kieran Keane, maintains the province’s strong links with Waikato that stretches back to the start of the professional era in rugby.

Keane, a highly-regarded Assistant Coach with Super 15 side the Chiefs, was confirmed as Pat Lam’s successor on Monday and will take over the role in June on a three-year contract.

Although hardly a household name — the initial reaction of many Connacht supporters was Kieran Who? — Keane boasts an impressive coaching pedigree in New Zealand, albeit much of it at a grade below Super Rugby. As a player, he was an uncapped All Black in 1979, playing six matches but no tests, before becoming a high school teacher.

His appointment maintains Connacht’s long record of recruiting from Waikato, starting with their inaugural two coaches of the professional era Warren Gatland in 1996 and his substantially less successful replacement, Glenn Ross, three years later.

A whole posse of players have been recruited from the New Zealand region over the years, most notably the Chiefs dual Super Rugby-winning skipper Craig Clarke three years ago whose Connacht stay was cut short, however, by repeated concussions.

And Connacht’s current scrum coach, their former prop Nathan White, also hails from the North Island area, though he arrived via Leinster. It is not unreasonable to assume that one or some of these individuals played a role in the recruitment process.

Keane, although 63, seems a good fit for Connacht having enjoyed the most successful spell of his coaching career in transforming New Zealand’s newest provincial union Tasman Makos from whipping boys to a period of remarkable success on a journey that had parallels to what Lam achieved with Connacht last season.

During his tenure with the Tasman, Keane led the team to an ITM Cup Championship victory and promotion into the Premiership in 2013. The following year, he took them to the premiership final, which they ultimately lost to Taranaki. As well as shaping their attacking style of rugby, Keane helped promote more than 15 players to Super Rugby during his time with the province.

With such a strong CV at provincial level, he was an obvious candidate for a Super Rugby job and he duly became assistant coach to Dave Rennie at the Chiefs where he is responsible for attacking strategy. And it is his accomplishments here that undoubtedly attracted Connacht — 76 tries in 17 games suggests a coach who can continue the crowd-pleasing ethos of Lam.

It is likely, too, that his appointment is tailored to Connacht’s budget as, despite being reigning Pro 12 champions, the reality is that tier one coaches are still someway beyond their means.

Full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.