Pat Lam leaving Connacht at the end of this season, rumoured to be joining Bristol Rugby

Confirmed on the Connacht website he will be leaving: http://www.connachtrugby.ie/#ConnachtNews

Rumoured on Off The Ball he will be coach at Bristol from start of 2016/2017.

Gutted to lose Pat, but he was bound to draw attention following Connacht performance last year. If they give him time at Bristol to build his style into the team then they will get a hell of a coach and some of the most enjoyable rugby in the Northern Hemisphere.

I imagine a few of the stars may follow him out the door, particularly Aki, but again do not begrudge anyone after all they have done on the field and building the club off it.

Thats rotten for Connacht, but hard to blame him - no doubt there are wads of cash being thrown at him.

So who to replace him? Carolan? Maybe Jackman?

I'm gutted by this news. Part of me hoped he would take over from Schmidt after the next world cup.

Disappointed for Connacht. Lam is a great coach for them, but maybe an equally talented coach will replace him at the end of the 16/17 season.

Sin é wrote:Thats rotten for Connacht, but hard to blame him - no doubt there are wads of cash being thrown at him.

So who to replace him? Carolan? Maybe Jackman?

I think Carolan to step up would be the wise move, he has done a lot of learning under Pat Lam and also done a great job with the u20s in terms of some of the players brought through in the last few years and big wins. Big challenge for him but I think the right move.

Sad to see Lam go, what hes done at Connacht is phenomenal.

Hopefully they can attract a big(gish) name to replace him who will pickup where he left off.

Don't think Aki or any of the guys he brought in will leave just because hes going. Guys like him and Heenan are coming IQ and don't think they will give up that opportunity

Lancaster?

A Doak/Clarke ticket is what Connacht need, please, please make it happen

marty2086 wrote:A Doak/Clarke ticket is what Connacht need, please, please make it happen

Not sure I could live with the guilt

Very happy it is Bristol and not saints.

Well I hope for his sake Pat Lam has got some promises from Bristol as regards playing resources, lost 10 out 10 in the Prem so far this season and a cert for relegation where next year Pat will have the pleasure of playing the likes of Jersey and Ealing Trailfinders. Bristol must be offering him a giant package to move from Pro12 to the second division in England.

brennomac wrote:Well I hope for his sake Pat Lam has got some promises from Bristol as regards playing resources, lost 10 out 10 in the Prem so far this season and a cert for relegation where next year Pat will have the pleasure of playing the likes of Jersey and Ealing Trailfinders. Bristol must be offering him a giant package to move from Pro12 to the second division in England.

It all depends who wins the Championship play off though, aren't only Irish and Yorkshire the only teams with the facilities up to scratch for the AP at the minute?

I'm not sure if any other teams have the facilities to go up, but as it's heavily odds on that it will be Irish vs. Carnegie in the final, Bristol are definitely going down if they finish bottom.

Confirmed to Bristol add the end of the season irrelevant of whether they are relegated or not. Bristol have plenty of money and aren't afraid to spend it. They've got some talented youngsters coming through and a handful of good players in the first team. A bloated squad is in need of reducing but they really should be strong enough to bounce straight back up.

Agree with Ozzy. Cannot see any teams contesting the final other than Irish and Yorkshire.

Lam is a highly rated coach, so this seems a bit of an odd move. Bristol will go down this year and at best if they come straight back up, even with strengthening the squad, they will still find it hard to stay up. Realistically, they are 4 years away at a minimum from being a mid-table side, let alone a top side. This will no doubt be a challenge for him, but you would have thought there would have been far better and bigger jobs available in due course. You'd expect Steve Lansdowne has opened his cheque book to make this worth Lam's while.

Good luck to him at Bris. He will have to get t hem back up again before we can see how well he can be in the AP
.

Bit disappointed, I was hoping he might have come back to Saints.

To be fair if Bristol can pick up a win Worcester could be in big trouble as LBPs are keeping Bristol close enough to them for now and one win could spark them a bit

marty2086 wrote:To be fair if Bristol can pick up a win Worcester could be in big trouble as LBPs are keeping Bristol close enough to them for now and one win could spark them a bit

I was thinking the same thing, especially since Bristol play Worcester at home in their next prem game on Boxing Day. Crucial game.

Ain't that a thing?  A side at the bottom of a League with no wins and 10 straight losses? - still has amples of cash to tempt Lam away from Connacht.  

Oh well, Connacht - the eternally kicked-in-the-balls side - back in the swamp and wondering where their next 'adventure' will take them.

Big blow to Connacht but just the way of things, money talks.

In fairness Lamb did a fantastic job winning the pro12 but realistically he can't take Connacht further, they've lost good players like Henshaw, Muldowny and McGinty and are clearly weaker than last year.

Bundi-aki looks to be fuming, hard to see him remaining but then he's ranted about being offski before.

I fancy EOS or Lancaster to take over and keep the seat hot for John Muldoon.

What is Bundi saying rodders? Only if it's printable

A subtle hint he's not impressed at the news...

https://twitter.com/bundeeaki12/status/805714990921609220?lang=en

I guess IF Bristol was to go down Lam is the type of coach that could keep the bigger names in the squad like Hurrell, Woodward etc and if they can keep the bigger names I would hope they try and do a Irish and aim for youngsters lacking any game time like say Ludlam @ Saints or Walker @ Quins etc, and try a build a squad that can develop together Bristol have the money and Lam has the ambition also Bristol is a nice area for Youngsters and Family players.

rodders wrote:A subtle hint he's not impressed at the news...

https://twitter.com/bundeeaki12/status/805714990921609220?lang=en

I'd say Bundee feels a little - or a lot - like he was maybe set up by his coach to sign on the dotted line a few weeks back when Pat himself (although also mentioned at the time as a possible exit) actually went ahead and signed off at the very same time.  By Bundee's reaction it seems his coach might have promised something he didn't keep to and used such an empty promise to seal Bundee's name to a contract.

SecretFly wrote:

rodders wrote:A subtle hint he's not impressed at the news...

https://twitter.com/bundeeaki12/status/805714990921609220?lang=en

I'd say Bundee feels a little - or a lot - like he was maybe set up by his coach to sign on the dotted line a few weeks back when Pat himself (although also mentioned at the time as a possible exit) actually went ahead and signed off at the very same time.  By Bundee's reaction it seems his coach might have promised something he didn't keep to and used such an empty promise to seal Bundee's name to a contract.

You think?!

Funny Marmion's response there - "Get out of the beer tent lad"

How can Bundee be pi-ssed about something he's already known about for weeks? So yeah, Id say he ain't too happy with Lam about something.

Marmion.... he's just terrified of losing Bundee and is trying to whistle his way past the tension

rodders wrote:

SecretFly wrote:

rodders wrote:A subtle hint he's not impressed at the news...

https://twitter.com/bundeeaki12/status/805714990921609220?lang=en

I'd say Bundee feels a little - or a lot - like he was maybe set up by his coach to sign on the dotted line a few weeks back when Pat himself (although also mentioned at the time as a possible exit) actually went ahead and signed off at the very same time.  By Bundee's reaction it seems his coach might have promised something he didn't keep to and used such an empty promise to seal Bundee's name to a contract.

You think?!

Funny Marmion's response there - "Get out of the beer tent lad"

I like Fritz Lees

cos your dad leaving uce hahaha have a kit kat uce alofa atu

Bristol has always had huge potential as a sporting city, being the 8th largest UK city with some of the best rugby schools in the catchment area and a supporter base that has been hibernating for quite a while. The owner has frequently stated he wants to raise the sporting profile of Bristol and doesn't need (want) a return on the money put into the club. It is only small change to him anyway.

Landsdown is not a man to be messed with and although he has been prepared to invest long term, this has clearly had limits. Robinson's downfall was that it took too long to be promoted and he had already lost some leeway time.

I am guessing it won't be long before Glaws also get a kiwi coach which just leaves Exeter in the west Country with an indigenous AP coach. Much the same as the test arena with ten of the top twenty teams also having kiwi coaches.

Just the way the game is currently going I guess.

So its really disappointing news. No badness towards Pat, and I understand how contract timings happen so it had to be announced now, but would have prefered the announcement after the next two matches. Ah well.

On it as a career move. Well, in business there are people who get a business off the ground and people who grow a business massive and there are different skill sets for each, with few having both. I wonder if Lam sees himself as someone who gets things off the ground primarily, which might explain going to Bristol rather than a bigger team.

I would would have loved to see if he in fact had both skillsets and if he can take a high ranked european team to more silverware, but we may have to wait awhile if ever to see that.

Maybe the biggest thing Irish rugby is losing is Lam as a salesman of irish rugby values to SH teams. His focus on skills and passion meant players like Aki took pay cuts over their market value to live and play in Galway, over ENgland/France.

Regardless of their silverware/success, I'm confident Bristol will be playing some sexxy rugby within 2 years...

What rugby will Connacht be playing?  They already had an okay rating on sexy with Elwood - but Lam, just like Cheika in Leinster, brought punch to add potency to the sex.

I'd assume Nucifora isn't too far away from the decisions made but I hope Connacht now have another guy ready and waiting to drive Connacht on in the same vein without a drop off in intensity. And seriously, that probably means it needs another SH coach.

I'll agree with you wolf that people have different skill sets and some coaches like the challenge of turning around a side and others just love trying to stay on top.  I'm sure Pat is being genuine over his affection for the west of Ireland (most especially its people) and I wish him well with his new venture until such time as he may come up against any Irish province

rodders wrote:Big blow to Connacht but just the way of things, money talks.

In fairness Lamb did a fantastic job winning the pro12 but realistically he can't take Connacht further, they've lost good players like Henshaw, Muldowny and McGinty and are clearly weaker than last year.

Bundi-aki looks to be fuming, hard to see him remaining but then he's ranted about being offski before.

I fancy EOS or Lancaster to take over and keep the seat hot for John Muldoon.

Speculation is thAt Bristol have offered him £750k package - that's more thank any coach in Ireland gets by miles.

brennomac wrote:

rodders wrote:Big blow to Connacht but just the way of things, money talks.

In fairness Lamb did a fantastic job winning the pro12 but realistically he can't take Connacht further, they've lost good players like Henshaw, Muldowny and McGinty and are clearly weaker than last year.

Bundi-aki looks to be fuming, hard to see him remaining but then he's ranted about being offski before.

I fancy EOS or Lancaster to take over and keep the seat hot for John Muldoon.

Speculation is thAt Bristol have offered him £750k package - that's more thank any coach in Ireland gets by miles.

The 750K is on the front page of th Irish Times. No wonder Bundi is pissed off! But in fairness to Pat, no one could turn that kind of money down. Now that Rob Penney has made his money, he might be interested in coming back.

The trend for the IRFU seems to be towards Irish head coaches, Doak at Ulster, Cullen at Leinster and previously Foley at Munster.

Isn't Elwood back working with Connacht as an advisor?

marty2086 wrote:The trend for the IRFU seems to be towards Irish head coaches, Doak at Ulster, Cullen at Leinster and previously Foley at Munster.

Isn't Elwood back working with Connacht as an advisor?

Well I think Elwood has been there for quite a while behind the scenes but he's hardly going to want to get back into things more directly. I think his previous stint proved very stressful to him. He isn't getting any younger and I doubt that his emotional involvement would diminish.

SecretFly wrote:

marty2086 wrote:The trend for the IRFU seems to be towards Irish head coaches, Doak at Ulster, Cullen at Leinster and previously Foley at Munster.

Isn't Elwood back working with Connacht as an advisor?

Well I think Elwood has been there for quite a while behind the scenes but he's hardly going to want to get back into things more directly.  I think his previous stint proved very stressful to him.  He isn't getting any younger and I doubt that his emotional involvement would diminish.

I was thinking maybe they would do what Munster had done and bring in a DoR and let him coach, would take some of the responsibilities and stress away and let him do what he seemed to be good at

Maybe; but I think his days of wanting that hands-on approach are probably gone now, marty.

But anything can happen, after all, it just did in the sudden announcement.

I'm no fan of this damn Director of Rugby role either.... and it has seeped in and.................. oh well, Change.

SecretFly wrote:How can Bundee be pi-ssed about something he's already known about for weeks?  So yeah, Id say he ain't too happy with Lam about something.

Marmion.... he's just terrified of losing Bundee and is trying to whistle his way past the tension

Its ok, Marmion can just make good mates with Paddy Jackson next year anyway

An inevitable move across the water, and a good one for Lam - not quite the money of McCall and Humphreys yet but too much to turn down. Bristol getting relegated would be perfect for him too as against Championship competition he may get away with only one season to get them playing the way he wants.

Wolfball has it spot on in that Lam is a root and branch turnaround merchant who will always get the sum to be more than the individual parts. Maybe Connacht now need a period of consolidation where a new DoR will build on Lam's foundation so they are less dependent on a few big names, and the resultant yo-yo seasons dependent on who stays.

It's not bad for Irish rugby either in that Ireland is now showcased as a great place to go for both fledgling and wounded coaches looking for an understanding benefactor rather than a cut-throat shark. Therefore some great coaches are attracted to come for a fraction of what they would earn in England or France. The IRFU should be looking at the benefits of these foreign ideas arriving in Ireland first before they're bought by the Franglos, rather than chase the crock of nonsense about having homegrown coaches.

The Great Aukster wrote:

It's not bad for Irish rugby either in that Ireland is now showcased as a great place to go for both fledgling and wounded coaches looking for an understanding benefactor rather than a cut-throat shark. Therefore some great coaches are attracted to come for a fraction of what they would earn in England or France. The IRFU should be looking at the benefits of these foreign ideas arriving in Ireland first before they're bought by the Franglos, rather than chase the crock of nonsense about having homegrown coaches.

:laughing:You should hope, Aukster.  Look who you've ended up with - Doak, Clark and Kiss.  Virtually all three of them close to being run out of town by the local lynch mob of unhappy supporters.

Nope - a loss of Lam is bluntly what it is - a loss derived from us increasingly not having the money to compete.  I said this would happen when people were worried about players being sucked up by the Franglos.  I reminded people that coaches like money too and that coaching expertise will be tempted away also.

Oh well, the bright side might be that O'Gara might want to begin his coaching passage back to Munster, starting with Connacht?

SecretFly wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:

It's not bad for Irish rugby either in that Ireland is now showcased as a great place to go for both fledgling and wounded coaches looking for an understanding benefactor rather than a cut-throat shark. Therefore some great coaches are attracted to come for a fraction of what they would earn in England or France. The IRFU should be looking at the benefits of these foreign ideas arriving in Ireland first before they're bought by the Franglos, rather than chase the crock of nonsense about having homegrown coaches.

:laughing:You should hope, Aukster.  Look who you've ended up with - Doak, Clark and Kiss.  Virtually all three of them close to being run out of town by the local lynch mob of unhappy supporters.

Nope - a loss of Lam is bluntly what it is - a loss derived from us increasingly not having the money to compete.  I said this would happen when people were worried about players being sucked up by the Franglos.  I reminded people that coaches like money too and that coaching expertise will be tempted away also.

Oh well, the bright side might be that O'Gara might want to begin his coaching passage back to Munster, starting with Connacht?

"On 9 March 2016, it was announced that O'Gara had signed a contract extension with Racing 92, which will see him remain with the club until at least 2019."

Bristol have signed Dan Tuohy with immediate effect. If they get a couple of big players to break contract and turn up in January they could well stay up

They've signed fairly well during the season with Woodward and now Tuohy arriving. They have got a fairly substantial squad already though. There's a lot of players at the club and this is possibly the biggest problem. They signed a lot of players in the Championship to ensure they had the best squad and have then signed a number of new players who are now trying to gel whilst the Championship squad is still there a number of whom are probably less than pleased to find themselves nowhere near the first team.

Worcester are very poor this season so Bristol could stay up. Either way they'll need a big squad clear out and readjustment at the end of the season.

toml wrote:Bristol have signed Dan Tuohy with immediate effect. If they get a couple of big players to break contract and turn up in January they could well stay up

They may not even need players to break contract, if they signed a few SH players for a few months they could snatch a few wins and put real pressure on Worcester

wolfball wrote:

SecretFly wrote:
Oh well, the bright side might be that O'Gara might want to begin his coaching passage back to Munster, starting with Connacht?

"On 9 March 2016, it was announced that O'Gara had signed a contract extension with Racing 92, which will see him remain with the club until at least 2019."

"Jan 21, 2015 - Pat Lam signs three-year extension to Connacht deal. Coach will remain with province until summer of 2018 at least."

Some of you people just think I get by on the shallow fumes of rugby

SecretFly wrote:

wolfball wrote:

SecretFly wrote:
Oh well, the bright side might be that O'Gara might want to begin his coaching passage back to Munster, starting with Connacht?

"On 9 March 2016, it was announced that O'Gara had signed a contract extension with Racing 92, which will see him remain with the club until at least 2019."

"Jan 21, 2015 - Pat Lam signs three-year extension to Connacht deal. Coach will remain with province until summer of 2018 at least."

Some of you people just think I get by on the shallow fumes of rugby

Yep, I am not saying that a contract lenght means much, but the money that Racing puts up is going to be a hell of alot more than what Connacht can put up/buy them out of.

Oh I know that wolf.  Was just throwing out the general possibility that O'Gara might soon find himself an excuse to get back to Ireland.  I know he earns a bit of a fortune in relative terms with Racing but I think he genuinely does still have a dream to perhaps one day get involved with Munster again.

It might never happen but if it were to happen, he'd really need to be making such decisions in the next few years.

SecretFly wrote:Oh I know that wolf.  Was just throwing out the general possibility that O'Gara might soon find himself an excuse to get back to Ireland.  I know he earns a bit of a fortune in relative terms with Racing but I think he genuinely does still have a dream to perhaps one day get involved with Munster again.

It might never happen but if it were to happen, he'd really need to be making such decisions in the next few years.

Agreed, he needs to start thinking about where he wants to end up, but though ROG is an intriguing future head coach (with his will to win/focus), he is not ready for Connacht (or to be head coach anywhere right now). I cannot track down his current responsibilities besides as a kicking coach (and coach/consultant on the racing 92 website) so I think he needs to start coaching a full backline or defence before he can be considerd for a head coach job.

wolfball wrote:

SecretFly wrote:Oh I know that wolf.  Was just throwing out the general possibility that O'Gara might soon find himself an excuse to get back to Ireland.  I know he earns a bit of a fortune in relative terms with Racing but I think he genuinely does still have a dream to perhaps one day get involved with Munster again.

It might never happen but if it were to happen, he'd really need to be making such decisions in the next few years.

Agreed, he needs to start thinking about where he wants to end up, but though ROG is an intriguing future head coach (with his will to win/focus), he is not ready for Connacht (or to be head coach anywhere right now). I cannot track down his current responsibilities besides as a kicking coach (and coach/consultant on the racing 92 website) so I think he needs to start coaching a full backline or defence before he can be considerd for a head coach job.

I thought he was the defensive coach now, I remember the jokes about it at he time.

I'd imagine while it maybe was RoG's dream to come back and coach in Ireland when he left, but I'm sure that living in Paris with a great income, that those dreams or ambitions may change.

I'm sure Lam was dreaming of going for another Pro 12 title with Connacht when he signed the contact extension, however Bristol came along with lots of money and Lam's dreams have changed.

Oh yeah, dreams are fine but many of them stay there through an entire life.
Still.... that tribal connection is still strong with O'Gara. I think he'll end up back home in time.