Next Leinster Coach

Assuming Joe Schmidt takes on the Ireland job who do Leinster fans want to see installed as coach?

Mike Ruddock is a former Leinster coach who has just led Landowne to be AIL Champions. Bernard Jackman is doing very well as defence coach for Grenoble and Jono Gibbes has been a superb forwards coach since joining Leinster way back under Cheika.

Any other names come to mind? Les Kiss could find himself out of a job. Would he be welcome?

Mike Ruddock seems like a decent shout as he was just outside the top bracket for coaches being linked with the Ireland job.

Richard Hill?

HongKongCherry wrote:Richard Hill?

How good a coach was he at Worcester?

Would like to see Gibbs get the job, he’s been a fantastic forwards coach. He’d obviously need to bring in someone as backs coach, Girvan Dempsey has been doing well with the A side, maybe a year or two too early to be brought into the senior set up but could be worth a shot.

Ruddock or Gibbes I'd say. They might even go to Kiwiland again.

Gibbs if Joe doesn't take him to Ireland. No way any Leinster fan would want Kiss.

just out of interest, who appoints managers for the Irish Provinces? is the decision taken by the IRFU?

I think the CEO of the provincial branch (in our case Mick Dawson) hires him, but has to get approval from the IRFU. As far as I know.

whocares wrote:just out of interest, who appoints managers for the Irish Provinces? is the decision taken by the IRFU?

It's a bit of a mess really. Leinster Rugby is a pro organisation headed by Mick Dawson. However all players and coaches are contracted to the IRFU which is an amateur organisation. There is also "The Leinster Branch" which runs the Amateur game in Leinster. Or to give it it's full title "The Leinster Branch of the IRFU"

Basically Leinster Rugby does it's own thing "to a point" It is subject to the IRFU as the governing body, but is left alone to a degree.

There are of course good and bad things to this approach.......... It's a bit of an Irish solution to an Irish problem"

whocares wrote:just out of interest, who appoints managers for the Irish Provinces? is the decision taken by the IRFU?

Sorry. On the specific question. Leinster rugby appoint the manager, but the IRFU would have to sign off on it. AFAIK

It could be Ewen McKenzie.

Ewen McKenzie and Schmidt go for Ireland job, the one who doesn't get it coaches Leinster?

Mickado wrote:I think the CEO of the provincial branch (in our case Mick Dawson) hires him, but has to get approval from the IRFU. As far as I know.

Spot on

Michael Bradley please, just for a laugh.

It would be nice to beat Leinster regularly.

Gibbes has certainly does his time as an assistant coach and the pathway to Head Coach is a logical move for everyone.

I've heard some Leinster fans suggest he doesn't have the personality to be a Head Coach and prefers to be an assistant.

Rob Penney. Just kidding hes no good.

I'd like them to interview McKensie, Deans, Cheika, Venter, EO'S, Gibbs, Kiss, Mallet, Galthie or Richards.

I think Richards, Deans, Cheika and McKensie would be my preferred options. Chances are none of them would be available.

Those are some excellent choices Guns.

I think its a shame how Eddie O'Sullivan has become unemployable in Ireland now. Wasn't even accepted for interview by Connacht.

Deans is a very good shout, same with Mallet.

If Gibbes was to take over you could just bring Girvan Dempsey into the backroom to cover the backs. Minimal change.

I hear Deccie is free??

red_stag wrote:Those are some excellent choices Guns.

I think its a shame how Eddie O'Sullivan has become unemployable in Ireland now. Wasn't even accepted for interview by Connacht.

Agreed. I wasnt his biggest fan at all but he is still a decent coach. Indeed Venter, Richards and EOS all come with baggage but all still have a lot to offer.

red_stag wrote:

Deans is a very good shout, same with Mallet.

If Gibbes was to take over you could just bring Girvan Dempsey into the backroom to cover the backs. Minimal change.

I would also like Galthie if I didnt think the language barrier would be an issue which it probaby would.

In anycase it is unlikely Leinster would have a sniff at attracting any of those names if the Munster shortlist is anything to go by.

the-goon wrote:I hear Deccie is free??

To hell or to Connacht Deccie.

The Munster shortlist was Tana Umaga, Rob Penney and Anthony Foley.

No idea who was on the Ulster shortlist apart from Anscombe.

Leinster's will probably be between Jono Gibbes and Mike Ruddock.

red_stag wrote:The Munster shortlist was Tana Umaga, Rob Penney and Anthony Foley.

No idea who was on the Ulster shortlist apart from Anscombe.

Leinster's will probably be between Jono Gibbes and Mike Ruddock.

Probably and Ruddock wouldnt be a bad option hopefully.

red_stag wrote:The Munster shortlist was Tana Umaga, Rob Penney and Anthony Foley.

No idea who was on the Ulster shortlist apart from Anscombe.

Leinster's will probably be between Jono Gibbes and Mike Ruddock.

Michael Cheika was on the Ulster shortlist. More than that, I remember hearing at the time that he was the preferred candidate but when asked if he would be happy to work closely with David Humphreys(Director of Operations) he said no. Thus Anscombe was the next choice and got the job as he didn't object.

Cheika would have been Ulster coach if he hadn't have objected to Humphreys role.

Really? Thats very interesting Dodger. Didn't know that.

He's just been made coach of the Waratahs so doubt he'll do a mega U-Turn to go coach Leinster.

You wouldn't know though. To be fair Mick Dawson has shown in his last two appointments a willingness to look at an unknown choice.

When Cheika was appointed he had only Randwick and Padova under his belt. Hardly an inspiring CV. When Schmidt was appointed he mainly had top flight experience as an assistant rather than as an established head coach.

Apparently Alex King, Wayne Smith, Les Kiss and Mike Ruddock are the front runners if Schmidt takes Ireland gig.

Alex King? Who is he the former Wasps player?

Wayne Smith would be a good apointment. He has plenty of experience.

red_stag wrote:Really? Thats very interesting Dodger. Didn't know that.

He's just been made coach of the Waratahs so doubt he'll do a mega U-Turn to go coach Leinster.

Yeh....I'm not suggesting Cheika rues the decision as he has obviously continued a very successful coaching career. Its just an interesting point. I think Cheika just decided he wanted to run the show without having to work with someone like Humphreys and if thats the case fair play to him its the sort of attitude that could hinder him, but also the sort of attitude which could make him very successful.

Artful_Dodger wrote:

red_stag wrote:Really? Thats very interesting Dodger. Didn't know that.

He's just been made coach of the Waratahs so doubt he'll do a mega U-Turn to go coach Leinster.

Yeh....I'm not suggesting Cheika rues the decision as he has obviously continue a very successful coaching career. Its just an interesting point. I think Cheika just decided he wanted to run the show without having to work with someone like Humphreys and if thats the case fair play to him its the sort of attitude that could hinder him, but also the sort of attitude which could make him very successful.

Not surprising with Cheika. He likes to be the boss.

I'd really be surprised if Wayne Smith was in the mix. He has turned down loads of jobs to be near his elderly parents.

Joe Schmidt might not be diplomatic enough for the Ireland job anyway considering his latest comments as circulated on twitter:

Sinéad Kissane Sinéad Kissane ‏@sineadkissane 2h
Joe Schmidt has hit out big time at decision not to cite O'Connell for incident with Kearney. 'Definitely should have been cited'

Sinéad Kissane ‏@sineadkissane 1h
Never seen Schmidt as annoyed. He said 'Kearney is the forgotten man in all of this'. Kearney won't play this week, unlikely for next week.

Sin.....give it a rest, seriously. Kearney took a massive boot to the head and is out for at least 2 weeks having been concussed. Schmidt is obviously the Leinster head coach and entitled to say that he think O'Connell should have been cited as much as anyone else is.

Making out that this somehow indicates that Schmidt shouldn't be Ireland Head Coach is really pathetic to be honest.

Spot on re Cheika he wanted to run everything.
Ulster wanted a Director of Rugby/Coach relationship.

Sin é wrote:I'd really be surprised if Wayne Smith was in the mix. He has turned down loads of jobs to be near his elderly parents.

Joe Schmidt might not be diplomatic enough for the Ireland job anyway considering his latest comments as circulated on twitter:

Sinéad Kissane Sinéad Kissane ‏@sineadkissane 2h
Joe Schmidt has hit out big time at decision not to cite O'Connell for incident with Kearney. 'Definitely should have been cited'

Sinéad Kissane ‏@sineadkissane 1h
Never seen Schmidt as annoyed. He said 'Kearney is the forgotten man in all of this'. Kearney won't play this week, unlikely for next week.

Is Siné short for Sinéad Kissane by any chance?

Artful_Dodger wrote:Sin.....give it a rest, seriously. Kearney took a massive boot to the head and is out for at least 2 weeks having been concussed. Schmidt is obviously the Leinster head coach and entitled to say that he think O'Connell should have been cited as much as anyone else is.

Making out that this somehow indicates that Schmidt shouldn't be Ireland Head Coach is really pathetic to be honest.

I've no problem with Schmidt being Ireland head coach, or making that comment normally, but making a comment like that at this time when he is being interviewed for the Ireland job is not diplomatic and will lead to nothing but accusations of bias and favouritism which seemingly is a major problem for the fans where Ireland is concerned. I'd prefer if he had kept his thoughts on this one to himself.

Artful_Dodger wrote:
Michael Cheika was on the Ulster shortlist. More than that, I remember hearing at the time that he was the preferred candidate but when asked if he would be happy to work closely with David Humphreys(Director of Operations) he said no. Thus Anscombe was the next choice and got the job as he didn't object.

Cheika would have been Ulster coach if he hadn't have objected to Humphreys role.

I don't rate Cheika that highly. Joe Schmidt made a big difference to Leinster when he came in. Cheika must be given full credit for giving Leinster a harder edge but he wasn't able to combine that with good attacking play like Schmidt has.

GunsGerms wrote:

Sin é wrote:I'd really be surprised if Wayne Smith was in the mix. He has turned down loads of jobs to be near his elderly parents.

Joe Schmidt might not be diplomatic enough for the Ireland job anyway considering his latest comments as circulated on twitter:

Sinéad Kissane Sinéad Kissane ‏@sineadkissane 2h
Joe Schmidt has hit out big time at decision not to cite O'Connell for incident with Kearney. 'Definitely should have been cited'

Sinéad Kissane ‏@sineadkissane 1h
Never seen Schmidt as annoyed. He said 'Kearney is the forgotten man in all of this'. Kearney won't play this week, unlikely for next week.

Is Siné short for Sinéad Kissane by any chance?

No. Sin é (you should know what that means if you ever studied Irish).

lol absolute tosh as always shin A. lets not consider Schmidt for the irish job on basis that he stuck up for his teams injured player. you couldn't make it up.

I hope he does exactly the same say if tuilagi chooses to decapitate zebo in next years 6 nations.

I would be happy with Vern Cotter, Mc Kenzie or Mike Ruddock. We are not on the wane and still have plenty of very good players.

profitius wrote:

Artful_Dodger wrote:
Michael Cheika was on the Ulster shortlist. More than that, I remember hearing at the time that he was the preferred candidate but when asked if he would be happy to work closely with David Humphreys(Director of Operations) he said no. Thus Anscombe was the next choice and got the job as he didn't object.

Cheika would have been Ulster coach if he hadn't have objected to Humphreys role.

I don't rate Cheika that highly. Joe Schmidt made a big difference to Leinster when he came in. Cheika must be given full credit for giving Leinster a harder edge but he wasn't able to combine that with good attacking play like Schmidt has.

Leinster were a pretty attacking side under Cheika when they wanted to be. Toulouse v Leinster in '06 for example. Munster v Leinster '09 too.

Go away Sin e does every folder have to be about your defence of a reckless act by POC

Gibbes should get 1st refusal imo,he's been in the background for a long time now and will have learnt a lot from working with several different people,if he doesn't want it then maybe Ruddock but he's a forwards coach so would that mean Gibbes gets the boot?

I think we're a pretty attractive club to join and should have a decent lineup of people looking for the job.

Sin é wrote:

No. Sin é (you should know what that means if you ever studied Irish).

I was exempt from having to study Irish but I do know what it means. It could also be short for Sinéad though.

dublin_dave wrote:lol absolute tosh as always shin A. lets not consider Schmidt for the irish job on basis that he stuck up for his teams injured player. you couldn't make it up.

I hope he does exactly the same say if tuilagi chooses to decapitate zebo in next years 6 nations.

I would be happy with Vern Cotter, Mc Kenzie or Mike Ruddock. We are not on the wane and still have plenty of very good players.

I'd be all for him too having a go at Tualagi, but Tualagi is unlikely to be playing for Ireland in the near future and Paul O'Connell is.

geoff998rugby wrote:Go away Sin e does every folder have to be about your defence of a reckless act by POC

I think Schmidt is being a tad reckless myself with his comments. Far more lasting damage.

GunsGerms wrote:

profitius wrote:

Artful_Dodger wrote:
Michael Cheika was on the Ulster shortlist. More than that, I remember hearing at the time that he was the preferred candidate but when asked if he would be happy to work closely with David Humphreys(Director of Operations) he said no. Thus Anscombe was the next choice and got the job as he didn't object.

Cheika would have been Ulster coach if he hadn't have objected to Humphreys role.

I don't rate Cheika that highly. Joe Schmidt made a big difference to Leinster when he came in. Cheika must be given full credit for giving Leinster a harder edge but he wasn't able to combine that with good attacking play like Schmidt has.

Leinster were a pretty attacking side under Cheika when they wanted to be. Toulouse v Leinster in '06 for example. Munster v Leinster '09 too.

We weren't anywhere close to as good in attack under Cheika as we have been under Schmidt however there are several reasons for that.Cheika had Alan Gaffney as his backs coach for a lot of the time,we were far better when David Knox was the backs coach (even if he was a lunatic).Also at the time the laws were interpreted in a way which discouraged attacking rugby,Cheika has the Waratahs attempting to play a good attacking brand at the minute so it might be the sign of a good coach that he can adapt his philosiphy on how the game should be played by taking into consideration the law interpretations,players at his disposal,weather,refs etc...

I think Schmidt is acting consistently with how he has said he will be during this process. He has always said that while he in contracted to Leinster he will honour that contract. He is Leinster boss now so he is right to stick up for his players. If he gets the Irish job then he shouldnt comment on such matters anymore but for now he is still Leinster boss.

Here's the Audio from the interview.

https://soundcloud.com/word-in-sport/joe-schmidt-on-poc-incident

Perfectly diplomatic and level headed.

Sin é wrote:

geoff998rugby wrote:Go away Sin e does every folder have to be about your defence of a reckless act by POC

I think Schmidt is being a tad reckless myself with his comments. Far more lasting damage.

There's no damage Sin. The only people who'd care are those who already won't accept Schmidt because he coaches Leinster. And quite frankly (from an outsider's POV) the one-eyed provincialists from ALL of the provinces are the biggest handicap the Ireland team faces.

So leave the POC non-citing stuff to the other thread will you.


PS, I don't want Schmidt to get the Irish job - but only because I want him to come home to NZ and coach the ABs after 2015. Deans is a poisoned chalice now and I don't like the style of play Gatland coaches.

Very well said Joe. Makes great points. I hope he stays with Leinster and Ireland get Deans or Mckenzie.

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

Sin é wrote:

geoff998rugby wrote:Go away Sin e does every folder have to be about your defence of a reckless act by POC

I think Schmidt is being a tad reckless myself with his comments. Far more lasting damage.

There's no damage Sin. The only people who'd care are those who already won't accept Schmidt because he coaches Leinster. And quite frankly (from an outsider's POV) the one-eyed provincialists from ALL of the provinces are the biggest handicap the Ireland team faces.

So leave the POC non-citing stuff to the other thread will you.


PS, I don't want Schmidt to get the Irish job - but only because I want him to come home to NZ and coach the ABs after 2015. Deans is a poisoned chalice now and I don't like the style of play Gatland coaches.

Interesting you rate Schmidt so highly. It hangs in the balance right now. If he doesnt take the Ireland job he will be back in NZ with in another year when the Leinster contract is up.

He could do both Pete. He's always said he wanted to go home eventually, I was surprised that he's in the running for the Ireland gig as I thought he was keen to leave so even if he does get the job I'd imagine it will only be until the WC.

At the moment we have 4 kiwis in charge of the provinces (I know pat lam isnt the official coach of connacht til the end of the season). Could it be a plan by the IRFU to get all the provinces playing a similar game? or at least ones with higher skill levels? if Schmidt were to accept the Ireland job then they might go looking for another New Zealander