Top rugby coaches look West

Date Published: 03-Dec-2012

Dara Bradley

About a dozen coaches with experience of managing international teams at rugby world cups have applied to replace Eric Elwood as head coach of Connacht Rugby next season.

The province also confirmed that coaches wh

o have plied their trade in the Southern Hemisphere’s equivalent of the Heineken Cup, Super 15, have also applied for the position; as have coaches with experience of the French Top 14 league, the Aviva Premiership in England, as well as from the Heineken Cup and the RaboDirect PRO 12.

There was some interest from coaches who have worked in Japan and South Africa, and of course interest from coaches in Ireland.

The deadline for applications was last Saturday, December 1, and Connacht confirmed that more than 40 applications were received before the deadline. Connacht CEO Tom Sears said the pedigree and quality of the applicants is testament to the progress the club has made over the last number of years.

“Connacht Rugby is very much on the up and that is reflected by the calibre of candidates that have applied,” Sears told Sentinel Sport.

“We have some exceptional coaches with excellent track records to select from and we are more confident than ever that we will be able to recruit the right person to take Connacht to new heights,” Sears said, adding that the list of applicants was currently being ‘short-listed’, and interviews will be conducted over the coming weeks by a four-man selection committee.

The interviewees include Sears; two members of the Connacht Professional Games Board, Conor McGuinness and Steve Cunningham; and an Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) representative. It is hoped that the new coach will be announced by January.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.