Gerry Thornley: Stuart Lancaster quite the coup for Connacht and IRFU
Connacht
have had plenty of fine coaches in their time, Warren Gatland, Pat Lam and Andy Friend among them, but no appointment will ever have grabbed wider attention and generated such excitement among the province's players and supporters alike as much as
Stuart Lancaster
.
First and foremost, securing Lancaster as Connacht's next head coach is a coup for the
IRFU
and their performance director
David Humphreys
, as well as a clear statement of the province's ambition.
After all, Lancaster brings a wealth of experience from his four years as England head coach, seven seasons as Leinster senior coach and year-and-a-half as head coach of Racing 92. Furthermore, so well regarded is he that Lancaster was recently shortlisted and strongly considered by the Australian Rugby Union as the next Wallabies head coach, prompting him to be critical of the process.
Clearly therefore, Connacht and the IRFU satisfied Lancaster with their ambition and vision for the immediate future, and presumably the prospect of the Dexcom Stadium's revamp into a 12,000-capacity ground would have been part of the appeal.
READ MORE
Munster's shootout defeat - the dark arts in rugby, yay or nay?
Listen |
28:05
Word is that the anticipated unveiling of the new stand will be at the Connacht v Leinster URC game on Saturday, January 24th. This will be the return fixture after Leinster host Connacht on January 3rd, games which certainly will now have a new intrigue.
Lancaster's arrival out west is also a timely fillip after a difficult and anticlimactic campaign which saw Connacht finish 13th in the
URC
table – two places lower than the previous season – and lose out on a home semi-final in the
Challenge Cup
when beaten in the quarter-finals in Galway by Racing.
Connacht's squad is capable of better than that but didn't help themselves by conceding points in flurries only to start playing to their potential when well behind on the scoreboard. There were mitigating factors, not least playing in front of an empty building site which previously housed the Clan Terrace, as well as the coaching upheaval which saw
Pete Wilkins
take sick leave and then ultimately depart before Benetton announced his appointment as their new attack coach within a month.
With Mark Sexton and Scott Fardy also set to depart as the respective attack and defence coaches, Collie Tucker assumed the head coaching role on an interim basis. Tucker will remain as scrum and contact coach, while Lancaster will also oversee defence alongside new attack coach Rod Seib, and lineout and maul coach John Muldoon.
Admittedly this ticket does seem a little cobbled together seeing as Seib was hired initially to work under Wilkins and it's noticeable that Lancaster has only signed a two-year deal. Still, his appointment will be well received, not least as his teams play a brand of rugby that has become synonymous with Connacht since Lam's days.
James Lowe and Stuart Lancaster during his time as Leinster's senior coach. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho
The 55-year-old has a well-deserved reputation for developing talented young players from his time with Leeds Tykes, the RFU and in his four seasons as England's head coach, when they finished second in four successive Six Nations before being eliminated as hosts at the 2015 World Cup in a pool featuring Wales and Australia.
Lancaster returned to more of a hands-on coaching role with Leinster after their particularly difficult 2014-15 campaign when losing five of their six European pool matches and the Pro12 final to Connacht in Edinburgh. He helped to harness their multiphase, high-tempo game during what the players dubbed 'Stuesdays' as their production line of internationals went into overdrive. Leinster also reached four
Champions Cup
finals, winning the 2018 decider against Racing, and won four Pro14 titles in a row.
This made him highly coveted but the move to Racing 92 never felt right, not least because he spoke little or no French and the Top 14 is a relatively cut-throat place for imported coaches.
Even Michael Cheika, in between guiding Leinster and the Waratahs to breakthrough Champions Cup and Super Rugby successes, was the victim of a very French coup after just two seasons with Stade Francais in 2012.
But Cheika lasted longer than the short-lived tenures of Rory Teague at Bordeaux Bègles, Mike Ford at Toulon and Richard Cockerill at Montpellier, when fired just seven games into last season's campaign after six straight defeats.
Having finished fifth and reached the French championship semi-finals in the 2022/23 season, under Lancaster they finished sixth and lost 31-17 away to Bordeaux Bègles in 'le barrage' last season. But, in early February, the club and Lancaster parted ways with Racing 12th and outside both the playoffs and Champions Cup qualification.
But this means Connacht have hired a hungry coach determined to prove himself again and who has an innate understanding of the Irish set-up as well as a genuine fondness for it.
A couple of weeks ago, Lancaster revealed on Off The Ball that he and his wife Nina had been to Galway in mid-April to watch a Racing team featuring their son Dan beat Connacht 43-40, prompting them to think, as he put it: 'Oh God, we miss Ireland.'
Unhesitatingly, Lancaster also admitted he would be interested in returning – 'I wouldn't rule out coming back at all' – and reflected on his seven seasons with Leinster as 'the best time of my career'.
As in life, some coaches are just a better fit in some countries than others. Connacht will hope that one day Lancaster will reflect just as fondly on his time with them.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Derry legend hopes display vs Galway silences ex-coach Gavin Devlin who warned Paddy Tally against taking job
FORMER Derry captain Chrissy McKaigue hopes their display against Galway silences the team's ex-coach Gavin Devlin. Speaking to Devlin and manager And that was the end point of a disappointing Championship campaign that did not back up their fine league success as they won Division 1. County legend McKaigue But the Slaughtneil man was an impressed spectator at Read more on GAA Derry are still waiting for their first competitive victory under Tally but are in the hunt for knockout football ahead of Saturday week's group finale against Dublin — and McKaigue hopes their latest effort makes Devlin eat his words. He said: 'Gavin made that comment but if you were at the game, you would say that hopefully this is a turning point for that group. 'It was a really strong performance in terms of their attitude, their application, their intensity. 'From a Derry supporter's point of view, and knowing the lads, it was a performance to warm the heart. Most read in GAA Football "To be honest, nine times out of ten they get the result.' CHRISSY McKAIGUE spoke at the 2025 Electric Ireland GAA All-Ireland Minor Championship launch. Tipperary GAA star 'had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview - 1 Chrissy McKaigue spoke at the 2025 Electric Ireland GAA All-Ireland Minor Championship launch
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Garda cameras planned for railway level crossings, with automatic fines and penalty points
There have been 30 railway level-crossing incidents so far this year, with 11 resulting in injuries or damage to the crossings, according to Iarnród Éireann . It says Garda safety cameras will be introduced at crossings, resulting in possible fines and penalty points for motorists. The data was published on International Level Crossing Awareness day (ILCAD), an initiative of the International Union of Railways (UIC) of which Iarnród Éireann is a member. An Garda Síochána plans to introduce up to six Go Safe safety cameras at railway level crossings. READ MORE The cameras will record motorists using the crossing and will automatically issue a fine of €160 in respect of speeding, or €80 in respect of breaking a red light. Motorists will be liable for three penalty points for either. The most frequent locations involved in level crossing incidents are in counties Dublin and Wicklow – Serpentine Avenue in Ballsbridge (five incidents), Sutton (three incidents) and Bray, Claremont, Coolmine and Sandymount (two incidents at each). The majority of level crossing incidents involve vehicles striking crossing gates or barriers, resulting in damage. There are currently 861 level crossings on the Iarnród Éireann network, and these are a combination of automated CCTV crossings, manned crossings and unmanned user-operated accommodation crossings. Iarnród Éireann has closed 134 crossings between 2014 and June 2025, and the company says it is working to eliminate as many level crossings as practicable. Iarnród Éireann chief executive Jim Meade said: 'I welcome the forthcoming roll out of Go Safe cameras at our level crossings. Driver behaviour is becoming more and more problematic at level crossings and I believe these measures will result in improved safety for all, protecting rail and road users alike.' Almost 300 people die at level crossings across Europe every year and level-crossing incidents account for 1 per cent of road deaths in Europe, and 31 per cent of all rail fatalities. Ireland's record remains stronger than the European average, with no level crossing fatalities since 2010.
The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
After a damaging week, Caoimhín Kelleher has restored the reputation of Corkness
CORK HURLING MANAGER Pat Ryan this week detonated the concept of Corkness, figuring it was the highest-value target in his war on hype. Ryan has been astonished and perturbed at the mass Writing off of Limerick, bridling specifically at a bookmaker paying out on Cork's All-Ireland win in April and more generally at all the material with which Rebel fans have provided for plastering on the walls of Limerick's dressing room. 'The really annoying thing was some of our own people writing off Limerick. Are they off their game? That's only setting us up for a fall', said Ryan, doing his worrying out loud. 'There was a thing written ages ago around the football thing', he said, 'which I'd say [football manager] John Cleary here hates it, this thing about 'Corkness.' 'It drives me mad when I hear that thing. What's Corkness?' Ryan need only ask his country board for the definition of the word. In 2019, Cork GAA published a five-year plan to boost their fading football fortunes and deduced what was missing was a bit of Corkness, and then-chairperson Tracey Kennedy defined the term. Corkness, she wrote, 'is that air of confidence just on the right side of arrogance – an unparalleled pride and our insatiable desire for Cork to be the best at absolutely everything.' Cards on the table – this column has always loved the notion of Corkness. Advertisement This is partly because it is unique, and partly because, in the column-writing business, game recognises game. In expounding on Corkness, Tracey Kennedy was faithful to the column writer's trick of pinning down some vast concept and slapping it with a single, evocative label. There are economists out there who have made a fortune out of this kind of business. Think your Celtic Tigers; your Breakfast Roll Mans. (This column's side-project of coming up with a working definition of Longfordness has run aground on the difficulty of reconciling the figures of Albert Reynolds and Maura Higgins.) Limerick manager John Kiely and Cork boss Pat Ryan. Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO A concept like Corkness can also be a genuinely potent sporting tool, as it gives players and supporters a shared identity around which to corral. Now, not everyone was an instant fan of Corkness' introduction to the Irish vernacular. 'We're only just into February but surely no more ludicrous pat of steaming bullshit will get dropped into sporting discourse in 2019″, wrote Brian O'Connor in the Irish Times. Six years on, diplomacy probably dictates that Pat Ryan couldn't quite go down the 'ludicrous pat of steaming bullshit' route, but he has made his point forcefully enough. Ryan evidently believes Corkness is a licence to indulge excessive and self-defeating levels of self-confidence, but in defence of the word, its definition does preach a certain amount of restraint. It's not supposed to be a real arrogance, Jamie Redknapp might tell us, but that lovely arrogance. Anyway, in a week that risked Corkness becoming irredeemably traduced as the Cork Mind Virus, along came Caoimhín Kelleher to restore the whole idea. Kelleher will be a first-choice goalkeeper in the Premier League next season and, in his own words, it's not a moment too soon. Asked by his new club Brentford as to whether it was a difficult decision to leave Liverpool, Kelleher replied, 'I don't think it was very difficult for me to leave. I felt for my own career that the time was right for me to go, to be a no.1 and to play every week.' Kelleher's career success so far is built on his confidence. That quality is evident whenever you see him play: few Irish sportspeople have ever been so obviously laconic and unflustered in the arena. He had the confidence to see off the legions of academy hopefuls to force his way into the first-team mix under Jurgen Klopp and the confidence to believe he deserved to stay there. He then had the confidence to play the way in which Liverpool needed him – stand still to bait an opponent's press and flirt with a humiliating error before getting his pass away; score the odd cup-winning penalty – and the confidence to deal with the awesome scrutiny that comes with playing in goal for a superclub. Mistakes by a goalkeeper are amplified over those by any other player, and there's an exponential amplification of any error at a club as big as Liverpool. You need a special strain of, well, Corkness to deal not only with mistakes but also the dark thoughts of making a future one. And above all, he had the confidence to leave. Kelleher is not joining Brentford to become their record appearance holder as, stop us if you've heard this before, he's showing the confidence in himself to go on and play regularly at a higher level. 'They've got a really good track record of improving and developing players which is really what's drawn me to the club', said Kelleher of his new employers. Ringmahon Rangers have also millions of reasons to celebrate their own kind of Corkness, as they had the confidence to insist on a 20% sell-on clause when Liverpool signed Kelleher. The game's apex predator clubs are not in the business of looking after anyone else, which they would deem charity. Innumerable Irish clubs have given in to pressure and allowed their biggest talents go to celebrated UK clubs for disgracefully little money. Ringmahon were not willing to fall into the trap. Ringmahon and Kelleher this week showed the rewards awaiting those who maintain confidence in themselves. Let the Corkness abide.
