Matt O'Connor

Reports starting to Circulate that Matt O'Connor is leaving his position as Leinster Coach with immediate effect.

Probably the best thing for all parties.

He only had a year left didnt he? Started to think that he should have been allowed see it out as much as I didnt like his style.

Onwards and upwards now.

I still blame him for the way Leicester backs attack.

Under his watch we lost Lewington, Ford and Twelvetrees (valid reason I guess why the latter 2 left though) but still.

We scored tries with him but our defence went slack and most tries were through sheer size (Like Alex and Manu).

It was a really odd appointment by Leinster in the first place.

Ok this was Leinsters worst season in the league, ever, but they still got a SF in Europe, I think that the quality of players has dropped since their pinnacle days. Necewa gone, Sexton has gone, BOD has gone, SOB has been injured for most of the season. Players like Gopperth will only get you so far.

I expect a few big SH signings for Leinster after the WC, and I think MOC shouldhave been allowed to finish off his contract with better players.

We don't want him back. You can keep him over I Ireland. Tell him East Midlands Airport is shut.

If it's true then it's been coming a long time.  But even so, it's never easy looking on as a coach fails to fulfil his role.  I mean it's not easy looking on as you see a man feel the pressure on him week in and week out and you realise what must be going through his head.  So I feel sorry for him personally that it didn't work out for him.

Leinster though have been losing too much ground and they've been coached contrary to the very values used by Leinster even before Cheika and Schmidt.

Yet I will say, and I've said it before, more than MOC needed and needs now to look at themselves in coaching terms - AND some players there too need a kick up the bum and to be reminded that there are other players ready to take their place if they're intent on using 'cruise control' when wearing the shirt.  It wasn't all MOC but he does have to accept the responsibility that Head Coach bestows.

Have any names been thrown out for his replacement?

TBF LordDowlais it was the weakest group in the competition and we just scraped by Bath by the skin of our teeth.

While there has been a definite drop in quality, most of the players that are left have shown they are far better then what we have seen under MOC both in previous seasons and at international level.

formerly known as Sam wrote:We don't want him back. You can keep him over I  Ireland. Tell him East Midlands Airport is shut.

Don't worry, we're getting a military plane to parachute him in for yis. No problemo and thanks for letting us have him for the two years.

LordDowlais wrote:Ok this was Leinsters worst season in the league, ever, but they still got a SF in Europe, I think that the quality of players has dropped since their pinnacle days. Necewa gone, Sexton has gone, BOD has gone, SOB has been injured for most of the season. Players like Gopperth will only get you so far.

I expect a few big SH signings for Leinster after the WC, and I think MOC shouldhave been allowed to finish off his contract with better players.

We'll see how far he helps Wasps get. For me a very undervalued player. Unfortunately ended up with the wrong coach for two years.... not the coach he signed up for.

SecretFly wrote: It wasn't all MOC but he does have to accept the responsibility that Head Coach bestows.

I agree with this sentiment, but I do not think another coach would do that much better with the players you have. Madigan isn't international standard if you ask me, D'Arcy is on his downward curve now, Ben Teo is a decent player though and Gopperth will not get you to the giddy heights you are used to either. But his previous peers had players like Necewa, BOD, D'Arcy at his peak, Sexton,plus others I have forgotten.

I expect some big SH names to be signed up by Leinster after the WC.

SecretFly wrote:We'll see how far he helps Wasps get. For me a very undervalued player. Unfortunately ended up with the wrong coach for two years.... not the coach he signed up for.

If he was any good, well perhaps I am being a bit harsh on him, but if he was the standard of player we have come to expect for Leinster, then why was he only playing for Newcastle for so long ? How come none of the big clubs came to get him before Leinster ?

Robbie Deans will be in Ireland next week. Will he be approached?

If Leinster sign up a good coach they will be fine. They don't need to sign up a bunch of SH players, and they can't anyway. A new coach and Sexton back will see them move forward.

Does anyone think that his sucessor has already been appointed?

Girve the Swerve to get us back on track  

Probably continue with the theme and hire a coach from the SH

SCW if he doesn't get the French job?

LordDowlais wrote:

SecretFly wrote:We'll see how far he helps Wasps get. For me a very undervalued player. Unfortunately ended up with the wrong coach for two years.... not the coach he signed up for.

If he was any good, well perhaps I am being a bit harsh on him, but if he was the standard of player we have come to expect for Leinster, then why was he only playing for Newcastle for so long ? How come none of the big clubs came to get him before Leinster ?

I guarantee you had Schmidt stayed, the coach that signed him, then you'd have seen a different Jimmy.  We'll see what Jimmy does at Wasps.  

BTW, Leinster was as big as you get when he was signing  Poor lad thought he's have two European Winners medals by now.

Cyril wrote:SCW if he doesn't get the French job?

Woodward has become the New Jake White. Any scent of a Coach being needed anywhere in the world and he's now become the first man on everyone's lips. He must have gotten the bug again after all his BBC analysis stuff.

With their budget they have seriously underperformed this year.

SecretFly wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:We don't want him back. You can keep him over I  Ireland. Tell him East Midlands Airport is shut.

Don't worry, we're getting a military plane to parachute him in for yis.   No problemo and thanks for letting us have him for the two years.  

Has he been over to Cardiff to be interviewed yet?

?

Has he?

Hmm, is this something I'm not getting? I'll be very annoyed with myself if it is.

The Blues are looking for a new coach, and are currently looking at Championship side assistant coaches. If he is available, then surely he will be considered.

Maybe he will.  Good luck to both if both The Blues and MOC agree to link up.

Do you think he'd be a good fit, looking at his time with Leinster?

Cardiff Blues need a no nonsense coach, somebody who will give these players a kick up the arris, I thought the chief would be the man to do it, but he does not seem to be coming across that way, I do not know who it could be at the moment, but I have heard whispers about Rob Howley going there to assist with the coaching.

Perhaps Matt O'Connor will be another candidate for the French international job?

Blues are after Danny Wilson.

This is a rumour that has been running for some time. I'd heard he was on the way out after the Bath win!

Leinster haven't gone for a 'big name' coach since Matt Williams - Ella, Kidney, Cheika, Schmidt and MOC were either assistants or with low profile teams.

The affordability of coaching staff is where the Irish provinces suffer in comparison to the big English and French outfits as they can afford to pay seven figure sums to attract the very best and not a salary cap in sight.
Someone like Jackman might just fit the bill?

If true a replacement must be close to signing. With the WC jumbling everything up and leaving Leinster in a vulnerable position, they need someone lined up. Spose they would have been in better stead for the WC had MOC developed any of our younger & academy folk.

I know it was specified that Nacewa was coming back as only a player.  Maybe that has been revised, or might now be revised, given that MOC is now gone. There was preliminary talk that Nacewa would come in some player and/or coach role, but maybe MOC resisted the idea of 'coach'.  
Nacewa might take a coaching position now - possibly backs.  Cullen is fill-in temporary Head but that could extend to beyond the World Cup and then see who was on the horizon with all the fall-out that can happen after those affairs!

Oh thank the heavens. This guy was useless. I don't use this term lightly.

Yes we lost a few key players, and the fans knew this as well as anyone. Expectations were not to win the double and remain unbeaten all season, they were tempered.

Most fans would have expected the following from Matt, in no order.

1. Reach knockouts in Europe and be competitive when knocked out.

Did not achieve this last year, but did this year. Although we were very lucky to have one of the easiest groups imaginable and mugged Bath with our scrum in the QF. Credit where credit is due, put up a great fight against Toulon.

2. Compete in the league, home semi final (away at the very minimum).

Achieved last year and won the league, performances weren't great but fair play, got the job done. Disaster this year, completely failed this, we came 5th, our lowest placing in 10 years, with barely a 50% win record and back to back losses to the dragons and munster.

3. Play reasonably attractive rugby.

I'm not saying Baa baa's/Fiji 7s style rugby, but coherent, effective rugby at pace and with precision. The was an abject failure, the skills honed under JS and Cheika have been coach out of all players, no one know what the plan was with the ball, aimless kicking and turgid one pass bosh rugby was the order of the day. It was painful to watch.

4. Succession planing, blooding academy players, building the squad.

This for me is actually the most important requirement for me for a Leinster coach. We can't buy in talent (only 4 NIQ allowed), and our primary goal is to feed the national team. This means we have to rely on, as well as develop, academy players. On this, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, f*$^king FAIL!
No one bar Conan or Furlong has been given a real chance in the team, older experienced players are selected (and flogged) ahead of any young player. AIL wingers (who will never reach the next level) are selected ahead of promising academy players. Luke McGrath was shafted, Ian Madigan as well.
He created a clear hierarchy within the squad, where younger raw players know they weren't wanted and were only played if absolutely required, and then were effectively blamed when the team lost.

This was he biggest failure, and Leinster will feel this for several more years to come, as he has set back this group of youngsters by 2-3 years, and the older lads have just got older.

If I was making predictions for next season, I think we won't make a QF of the ECC and will get an away Semi in the P12. But as long as points 3 and 4 are being addressed, I will be happy with that. MOC's stench will stay with Leinster for a few more seasons, and there is plenty of work to be done before we are the close to the force we once were.

the-goon wrote:Oh thank the heavens......

(everything in between)

....... and there is plenty of work to be done before we are the close to the force we once were.

    + a few hundred.

Not often I fully agree with virtually ever nuance, full stop, comma and tone of a post but the Goon hits everything to perfection.  Not just the negative stuff but in the acknowledgement of some of the positives in those 'fair is fair' moments.

But as an overall view of the detail as to why a Leinster supporters would be mad, the Goon has it down fully.  Nobody was expecting fireworks every year, or winning big things every year - but those two aspects (Attractive, effective, Real rugby and Developing our lesser players for the future) were absolutely central to why MOC is now gone.

Now maybe he could go to Saracens? Would suit them.

the-goon absolutely agree with you.

Jackman has been doing okay at Grenoble.
Cullen has been poor on this coaching ticket. If I'm honest, Jennings would be a better option in the medium to long term.
Dempsey has been doing well at underage levels, could be a genuine option.
Maybe a new coaching set-up uses Nacewa to help with the attack in the backs.

As an outside shout, how about Ruddock? He has done plenty at all levels hasn't he?

Will Schmidt have an opinion I wonder?  Unfortunately he seems (going on my memory of back then) to have had an opinion on MOC being his successor; proving nobody is perfect, I suppose

But might he have a say now?  I have a feeling Nucifora will certainly have a big one and was probably the major influencer in letting MOC go.  MOC proved too big of a public 'No' Man.  Attack the system and you attack the man now behind it....so MOC was kinda writing his own resignation letter when he publically attacked the system.  Maybe he knew that dynamic and used it to get out.

Anyway, whatever his name is now, Leinster need a driven coach - an animated one that pushes hard and gets emotionally involved.  MOC was always far too laid-back.  Cullen is also laid-back.  Leinster needs either another Growler and Wall Smasher like Cheika or another Pernickety, Ruthless, Relentless Error Spotter like Schmidt.

It's clear Leinster need to be driven by an obsessive.  They thrive on being driven hard.

The Great Aukster wrote:
The affordability of coaching staff is where the Irish provinces suffer in comparison to the big English and French outfits as they can afford to pay seven figure sums to attract the very best and not a salary cap in sight.
Someone like Jackman might just fit the bill?

The irony being that you are complaining coaches are paid beyond what Irish provinces in England after sacking a head coach you signed from an English club with an improved contract and a promotion.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/32825204

He is gone!!! Now we need to bring someone in, and not give them unreal expectations. With the RWC, under developed youth players, and completely new style of play that need to be learned; performances not results needs to be the priority. Build the performances, and the squad, the results take care of themselves. No Band-aid's, no quick fixes, this is a multi-year process.

Step 1 is picking a coach who can deliver this within the unique constraints of a Union controlled club.

Good luck.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:
The affordability of coaching staff is where the Irish provinces suffer in comparison to the big English and French outfits as they can afford to pay seven figure sums to attract the very best and not a salary cap in sight.
Someone like Jackman might just fit the bill?

The irony being that you are complaining coaches are paid beyond what Irish provinces in England after sacking a head coach you signed from an English club with an improved contract and a promotion.

I'd disagree with Aukster but I get what he's saying.  He's saying Irish Provinces don't tend to be in the market for considered 'Proven' Head Coaches.  That might be due to budget constraints or it might be how they tactically operate - as a hungry undercoach always has something to prove.  Unfortunately for MOC that route didn't work out for him yet and he'll have to try to start again fresh somewhere else and leave the bad experience of Leinster behind him.

But as regards the word 'suffer'.  I don't think anyone could wildly say that Irish Provinces have suffered in the coaching area.  Kidney won HECs and then a Grand Slam.  Schmidt won HECs and then two 6Ns, Cheika won HECs and now has gone on to coach Australia.  I think the policy of choosing lesser coaches that want to step up to Leading roles might have been tested with MOC but I don't think it should be deserted.  It's a good place to come for ambitious assistant coaches ready to test their credentials at the higher level. And Provinces seem to be overall good at spotting the better ones.

It would be nice to get Gibbes back as head coach. He has a year left on his contract as forwards/assistant coach at Clermont. Might be possible to arrange a release in the case of been offered a head coach position.

the-goon wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/32825204

He is gone!!!

You're a good three hours late on the confirmation there, goon

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2015/0521/702700-reports-matt-oconnor-sacked-by-leinster/

Golden wrote:It would be nice to get Gibbes back as head coach. He has a year left on his contract as forwards/assistant coach at Clermont. Might be possible to arrange a release in the case of been offered a head coach position.

That would be perhaps the most ideal!  Leinster really miss his craft and solidity.  But going on the snippets of interviews I've heard from him in recent months, he seems blissfully happy down in France and seems awful glad to get away from our miserable winter AND summer weather!  
He left no hint that he'd rush to get back to see his old boys.  But then, never look hungry when you want a big pay packet I suppose.  So it wouldn't be a shock if it was him but......well, who knows.

SF - there have been plenty of damp squibs as well as rockets. Kidney had several goes before making it, Gary Ella was sacked, Cheika wasn't working until he got rid of David Knox.

Ulster have had their fair share of inexperienced and ultimately failing coaches - Mark McCall, Steve Williams, and Brian McLaughlin.

The point was that Leinster won't be going after a big name coach because they probably won't be able to afford him. Therefore that is a risk they have to "suffer in comparison" to the big money leagues.

The Great Aukster wrote:SF - there have been plenty of damp squibs as well as rockets. Kidney had several goes before making it, Gary Ella was sacked, Cheika wasn't working until he got rid of David Knox.

Ulster have had their fair share of inexperienced and ultimately failing coaches - Mark McCall, Steve Williams, and Brian McLaughlin.

The point was that Leinster won't be going after a big name coach because they probably won't be able to afford him. Therefore that is a risk they have to "suffer in comparison" to the big money leagues.

I get what you're saying to an extent, Aukster, but again I'd have to say that given we only have four Provinces - we've fought hard above our weight and above what might have been expected this last decade or so both in players and in coaching.

You can quibble about Cheika not working until A or B happened, or Kidney needing several goes before making it. I'd say the several attempts was evidence enough that he and his fellow coaches had the right stuff. Cheika had the right stuff. Schmidt had the right stuff.

If there is a degree of truth in Leinster not being able to 'afford' a top Coach I truly think it would be a smallish degree. Not Willing to Afford/or Buy a Top Coach is a different thing and perhaps closer to what I'd imagine the truth is. Another assistant with ambition would be a good buy.

SecretFly wrote:Another assistant with ambition would be a good buy.  

It would only be a good buy if you got an assistant of Joe Schmidt quality, whereas it would be goodbye if you got another Gary Ella.

so just throwing it out there. Steady Eddie. (not really but it would be interesting to see everyone demanding he got the connacht job will be vocal because he isnt considered)

GoodinTightSpaces wrote:so just throwing it out there. Steady Eddie. (not really but it would be interesting to see everyone demanding he got the connacht job will be vocal because he isnt considered)

You know what, would love to see that. Think he could do a great job undoing the MOC mess.

Why not Ewan McKensie? He is not doing anything right now is he?

Eddie's Biarritz side finished mid table in the pro d2. Is he really the best choice? Has the game not passed him by?

http://www.the42.ie/matt-oconnor-leinster-sacking-leaving-2115528-May2015/

According to Murray Kinsella, it was MOC's idea after he heard the Queensland Reds were interested. I wonder if Cullen will be Leinster's Neil Doak-alike next season?