Easterly leaves Scarlets

Interestingly, I've not seen anyone comment on Simon Easterby leaving the Scarlets.

Have I just missed the thread, or does no one have any thoughts on this.

Good move, for him for Scarlets, bad, nothing changes...any thoughts.

Personally, its a test moved for Simon, not so good for the Scarlets IMO.

Sorry just realised this story broke days ago... Don't understand how I missed it.

If there's another thread just point me there and accept my apologies for potentially creating a repeat.

Has been in the papers since the beginning of the month, but only confirmed today.

As an Ireland fan I think it's great. For the Scarlets fans I know personally I feel sorry, but I doubt they blame him for leaving given the mess Welsh rugby is currently in.

I think Scarlets have a very good coach incoming in Wayne Pivac, who could be a really smart acquisition.

I also think Ireland are getting a good deal. Not as good as Plumtree, but still pretty good.

Another thing worth saying is that Easterby doesn't formally begin his new role with the IRFU until October so he'll be around in Llanelli to manage the handover to the new coach, which should help.

Anyone know if his contract was bought out, as he had time off on it.

Just want to throw this out there to all the Irish guys, why is this such a good appointment.lets be honest the starlets have hardly been noted as a powerful forward unit for years let alone a mauling side which was one of Ireland's major weapons last year.hope I'm wrong but forwards coach? Not sure he's particularly the stand out guy here.

Steve, Easters has never been a forwards coach at the Scarlets, he was defence coach and then head coach. Our pack was McBryde, Grain Jenkins, and Danny Edwards, problem.

Exactly, what am I missing here?

Your not missing anything. I was pointing out that he hasn't actually had a forwards coach job until now.

I do wish him the best though, and it will be sad to see his 15yrs with us end. Even though he is Irish, IMO he will always be a true west walian.

stevetynant wrote:Just want to throw this out there to all the Irish guys, why is this such a good appointment.lets be honest the starlets have hardly been noted as a powerful forward unit for years let alone a mauling side which was one of Ireland's major weapons last year.hope I'm wrong but forwards coach? Not sure he's particularly the stand out guy here.

That might be seen to presume that all us Irish think it actually is a good appointment. For me the jury is very much out on whether he's a good appointment or not.  Only the future can tell and I'll give him his time to prove he's a good choice.  But nobody can say he's a good appointment until he proves himself in the role - and that's always performance and results based.

Here's what I put in the other thread;

"I have very fond memories of him as a player. He was an excellent lineout operator. We have a dedicated scrum coach and Schmidt would cover a lot of detail at the ruck so a lot of his job will be concerning the lineout and maul. As you say, Plumtree was much more of a proven specialist forwards operator in the coaching department but this was an area of expertise for him as a flanker. He was never the physical specimen that O'Brien or Ferris was, but he made up for it with really great technique at lineout and at the ruck. He was impeccable in that regard, clearly did a lot of homework and a huge amount of work on mastering all the nitty gritty aspects of the position so not surprising he was drawn to coaching.

It will be interesting to see how he does but he knows what he's on about when it comes to the nuts and bolts of forward play, no doubt. Just less of a track record as a specialist forwards coach than Plumtree. IRFU have probably had their eye on him for a while, reports linking him to the job started surfacing very soon after Plumtree left."

Whether he can translate his expertise as a player effectively, I don't know. I'm fairly certain he has the knowledge. He's been working in a different role at the Scarlets, this is completely new so it's hard to judge how he'll do based on that and wrong to pre-judge him based on his Scarlets experience. Scarlets game plan is totally different to the kind of things he'll be charged with implementing with Ireland and he's working with higher calibre players.

I don't think he is in the same league as John Plumtree, but the circumstances of this appointment have to be taken into account. We thought we had our coaching team sorted out until after the World Cup- a year out, anyone with top flight international experience is employed elsewhere and many other excellent candidates are working as Head Coaches and are going to be a hard sell. In those specific circumstances I think its a good appointment.

The IRFU haven't announced the length of contract and there doesn't seem to be compensation either for the Scarlets. I wonder is this a sort of loan arrangement by the Scarlets? Easterby gets experience at a higher level and the Schmidt gets a coach to cover for the next 12 months.

It would be beneficial to all, particularly Easterby who has only experience of one club and doesn't get the same chances with Wales as some of the native coaching staff get with Ireland.

Sin é wrote:The IRFU haven't announced the length of contract and there doesn't seem to be compensation either for the Scarlets. I wonder is this a sort of loan arrangement by the Scarlets?  Easterby gets experience at a higher level and the Schmidt gets a coach to cover for the next 12 months.

It would be beneficial to all, particularly Easterby who has only experience of one club and doesn't get the same chances with Wales as some of the native coaching staff get with Ireland.

Possible, but with the current climate in Wales, unless the Scarlets have had compensation, then we would be looking at him leaving as a reduction in the wage bill, so I can't see us wanting to pick up the bill again in 12-24 months.

Mark Tainton follows Easters through to do to the Irish (ok, London Irish)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/28364426

I'm not understanding all the eulogies concerning the loss of Easterby - Since he took over The Scarlet's have continued to sink further into mediocrity with poor recruitment and poor performances. Where is the critique of such poor performance. This seems symptomatic in club rugby in Wales where people get eulogised for taking a team further into the abyss. Just be honest, The Scarlet's have been crap and ineffective for years.  

Ruby long time no see. To be fair we have made progress under Simon, reaching the play-off. Also we have signed the likes of Ball, Earle and Snyman in the the second row, and now Pitman and Hala'ufia at number 8. Seeing as these were our two weak areas I think that is a boost. Our back play has gone stale, granted, but is that down to Easters or is that Mark Jones.

I can accept we have been average under him, but lets be honest, we have been average since '03, bar a freak honeymoon period with Phil Davies (and he is IMO the worst coach any team has seen, but a top bloke as a human being).

But if you want critique of him, just pop on over to certain forums where the Turk fans are and you can see some are happy to see him go.

Of all the people I wanted to reply to this you were the last person 'cos you've left me with no argument. Nice one Spiderman. I just wish we'd have some more critique with our coaches as the bar seems to have been lowered immensely. You're also spot on with Phil, great bloke but way out of his depth in a coaching and advisory capacity - just keeps repeating the same old drivel.   

Ruby, to be fair I don't think many Scarlets frequent these boards anymore, so you were kinds stuck with me having to reply.

It is a sad state of affairs when three of our four regions are realistically classing a top 6, finish as a good result. Worse still is I have seen much hype for Pivac and Hammett already, yet from what I have seen Hammett jumped before being pushed and Pivac only coached outside of nz, and returned for family reasons. I have a feeling we may be expecting too much of them too.

I really liked Phil as a player, even as a pundit, but was probably one of the ones who ran him down the most as a coach, which I always felt bad for because he is so likeable, generally.

I'm not really upset about his departure. Yes, our pack has come on leaps and bounds but i honestly believe that is due to the appointment of Danny Wilson who I have always wanted as our head coach. It's a shame he has stepped down from forwards coach but it is nice to hear he will still be around for scrummaging. I think Easterby is getting a bit of praise for Wilson's work from the media and isn't as big a loss as people are making out. We haven't really excelled or reaches the heights left by Nigel Davies since he has taken over.

Since Easterby has been in charge, I can't but help feel our backs have lost a bit of flair but I do hold Mark Jones inexperience at coaching responsible for that as well.

The best outcome for me would be that Wayne Pivac is a great replacement for Wilson who in fact has been our biggest loss this season and then Nigel Davies back in charge. Controversial but he always brought the best out of our backs and this time will have a strong pack to back it up. I for one think bringing him back into the team would be great and he will have a great right hand man in Pivac.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/irfu-to-save-100000-as-scarlets-allow-easterby-to-go-30440968.html

IRFU to save €100,000 as Scarlets allow Easterby to go.

Fair play to Scarlets allowing Easterby out of his contract a year early.

From a buiness point of view with the regions needing every penny they can get this is a big call, I'm guessing that after the world cup they plan for him to return a better Coach?

The IRFU and regions have always seamed to have a good working relationship.

Kingshu, if the regions and IRFU have a good working relationship, any chance of us jumping from the WRU to you?

ScarletSpiderman wrote:Kingshu, if the regions and IRFU have a good working relationship, any chance of us jumping from the WRU to you?

If the regions were to fit in with the provinces they'd need a team like Munster- a chippy rural based team that played in red, and was prone to fits of sentimental hagiography and extreme one-eyedness syndrome. Then they'd need a side that was something like Leinster, a team from the big city that played in blue and were perceived as arrogant and overbearing by people from the country.

It just wouldn't work, we're all too different

Yeah Notch, I guess their just too dissimilar, I mean the Munster version fans would have to travel en-masse and be really pretty vocal

So whats the jungle drums saying about who will replace him, jobs for the boys again (Davies and Moriairty free) or are they trying to get a big name in charge?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/28362251

Seems a fairly logical choice.

So farive heard Pivac as likely, but then rumour of Nigel or Phil.

Also for the forwards I've heard we won't replace Pivac if he steps up, again rumours of Scott Quinnell, Iestyn Thomas, Danny Wilson (bribed to come back).

So odds are I think it will be Pivac to the top dog role, with Mark Jones assisting him. And the only other coaches will be Wilson, scrums, for a day a week, and our new fitness coach, who's name I can't remember.

[quote="ScarletSpiderman"]So farive heard Pivac as likely, but then rumour of Nigel or Phil.

Nigel or Phil would be a huge step back surely?

So Pivac is now officially head coach, and he has also brought in Byron Haywood as the new defence coach.

From Simon's perspective I think it's a gamble. We've seen plenty of head coaches leave the regions over the last few years and to be honest none have gone on to any major success. Nigel Davies & Young probably being the highest profile leavers. Easterby is probably on a fairly short contract because if they dont have a good world cup they will probably bring in new coaches under the head honcho. So potentially he could be out of work again within 18 months while usually the regions have stayed loyal to their head coaches (with the exception of Phil Davies).

To be honest I think the regions will be just fine. Pivac may not be the best option on the market but he has vastly more experience than Easterby in the management side of things. So I think it will end up being good for the Scarlets.

I've said for years that the real issue with the regions has had a lot to do with our head coaches who never had the experience for these roles in the beginning. The training on the job mentality should never have occured. Our young coaches should have had to work their way up by doing welsh club rugby management followed by stints in England and France to give them the diversity required to coach at that level. The whole point of the regions was after all to establish mini international sides in terms of standards.

I dont mean to be disrespectful to coaches here but the logic should have been that unless you have the CV to apply for an international job, you should have no business running a regional setup. Just my view.