THERE WAS NO doubt that Declan Kidney was going to lose his job. People would have guessed that after a poor Six Nations.
I would have personally thought the IRFU would let him finish out the terms of his contract until the end of the tour to North America this summer.
It is strange that he gets booted out but the coaching staff that he had in place for the championships is still in place.
The decision to end Kidney’s contract now leaves the door wide open to speculation. The IRFU know more than we know at present and will have held discussions about who may come in.
It may come out that he chose not to stay. There’s a lot of talk about this Sporting Directors’ role in UCC and he has to look after himself, jut like everyone else.
If it was a decision purely down to the IRFU, however, I’d have to say that they should have kept him in place until they had a new man lined up.
They could have had Kidney complete his contract and a director of rugby in place by the end of the summer. Instead, they are doing it back to front and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the coaching vacancy filled first.
Les Kiss may well be kept on as head coach if he can produce a successful tour and get the team playing well. He is the man in-situ but I can’t see him getting the role on a permanent basis.
Where to next?
People will have already taken their names out of the running though.
That’s the gamble of taking an international coaching job – once you finish up or get sacked, it is very hard to ease back into a club role.
Look at Eddie O’Sullivan. He guided Ireland to the verge of a Grand Slam and hasn’t been able to find a proper job, including his stint in America, since. I’ve said it in the past that Joe Schmidt would be my number one choice. Some coaches are coaches and couldn’t be bothered about directors, boards and other things that flow around rugby.
He wouldn’t be bothered if there was a director of rugby in place or not. Once he is in control of coaching, and everything that goes into hit, he would be happy.
Referring back to the risks of taking an international job at an early age, I think that it may rule out Conor O’Shea and Mark McCall – two men enjoying great success in England.
There is no reason why they should step up to the international plate and risk it not working.
‘I’ll do forwards, you do backs’: Kiss and Foley in Wales. (©INPHO/Dan Sheridan)
Anthony Foley is definitely one for the future. He is going to make a brilliant head coach but I think he’ll need provincial experience first.
The IRFU, much like the FAI did with Giovanni Trapattoni, are going to cast the net wide and look for a marquee signing. You have Vern Cotter, who has a year left on his Clermont contract, and Ewen McKenzie, who, I think, is making a play for the Australia job.
The Ireland job is a very high profile position and there are a few names out there that most of us have not even thought of yet.
*Shane Byrne’s publication, Club Rugby Magazine is available monthly in the Irish Independent. Follow the magazine, and all the latest rugby news, on Twitter @ClubRugby1
