Ulster shafting Brian McLaughlin

Jigga

Anyone else think that this is an absolute disgrace? He has made huge progress since he took over with the mess he inherited. Ulster had not got out of the groups in the Heineken Cup for over a decade until he took over and never made consecutive knock-out appearances before. And now he is on the brink of winning the cup!

I hope they win today and never again, shameful from David Humphreys and the Ulster board and I hope it backfires on them.

Benny Cake

Get back in your box mate...Its been done to death here..........

Fishooks12

Jigga wrote: »

Anyone else think that this is an absolute disgrace? He has made huge progress since he took over with the mess he inherited. Ulster had not got out of the groups in the Heineken Cup for over a decade until he took over and never made consecutive knock-out appearances before. And now he is on the brink of winning the cup!

I hope they win today and never again, shameful from David Humphreys and the Ulster board and I hope it backfires on them.

Even if you think it's unfair, which is fair enough, that's your opinion, why would you want the entire province to suffer as a result?

Sindri

Humphreys mentions his reasoning behind the decision here:

http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0,26691,12602_7762152,00.html

thomond2006

McLaughlin is getting a permanent contract to run the academy.

jm08

thomond2006 wrote: »

McLaughlin is getting a permanent contract to run the academy.

No he is not - he is a glorified underage scout.

McLaughlin's role will be to develop underage talent with a view to identifying future Ulster players.



The former teacher will work with schools and help feed the cream of local talent into the Ulster system.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18200432

irishbucsfan

jm08 wrote: »

No he is not - he is a glorified underage scout.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18200432

He never even applied for the Head Coach role when originally given the opportunity. The media are trying very hard to make a story out of nothing.

Fishooks12

I think under a better coach Ulster would have given Leinster a better game tbh so I can see why they wanted to change

danthefan

irishbucsfan wrote: »

He never even applied for the Head Coach role when originally given the opportunity. The media are trying very hard to make a story out of nothing.

He made it very clear earlier in the season he was disappointed at being relieved of his position in that cringeworthy press conference with himself and Humphreys.

thomond2006

jm08 wrote: »

No he is not - he is a glorified underage scout.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18200432

fair enough, I thought it was said he would be head of the academy

irishbucsfan

danthefan wrote: »

He made it very clear earlier in the season he was disappointed at being relieved of his position in that cringeworthy press conference with himself and Humphreys.

Yes. The whole thing is bizarre. I'd say the board can't wait for the whole thing to be over at this stage. He never applied and he told them he wouldn't because of personal issues. I guess as he got into the job he may have changed his mind?

ray jay

He must really like Ulster if he didn't try to find another club that would offer him a better position than that.

bilston

danthefan wrote: »

He made it very clear earlier in the season he was disappointed at being relieved of his position in that cringeworthy press conference with himself and Humphreys.

He knew when he signed the 1 year contract last year what the situation was. Maybe he felt that some good results would lead to him being in contention for a new contract and that's why he was disapointed but I'm afraid the OP is completely wrong to suggest he has been shafted. Now it may be the wrong decision, but he hasn't been shafted.

jacothelad

He hasn't been shafted. He isn't good enough. Too many selectorial blunders, crass decisions and ineffectual rugby.

CatFromHue

The whole Ulster set up in a bit funny this year to be honest. When you look at the management structure on their website they have McLaughlin as head coach, Neil Doak as assistant coach, David Millar as team manager and then medical staff. It doesn't look like Millare gets involved in team matters as such but is more in charge of logistics (I could be wrong on this).

Compare that to:

Leinster who've Schmidt, Gibbes (forwards), Feek (scrum), Richie Murphy (skills and kicking), and then Guy Easterby (team manager).

Munster who've McGahan, Foley (forwards), Holland (backs), Ian Costello (skills), McCarthy (scrum), and Payne (team manager).

Connacht who've Elwood, McFarland (assistant coach), Milard (backs), Forshaw (defence), Carolan (skills), and Alnutt (team manager).

Maybe the website doesn't list all the staff I dunno but it all seems a bit light in comparison to the other provinces.

irishbucsfan

Johann Muller is effectively a coach by all accounts, and Terblanche now I've heard... All though I'm not sure what Terblanches story is right now.

jm08

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Johann Muller is effectively a coach by all accounts, and Terblanche now I've heard... All though I'm not sure what Terblanches story is right now.

You thought that McLaughlin was going to be the Head of the Academy as well"

Irishbucks fan: Well firstly he's Head of the academy, not an assistant, and its a permanenct contract, which he is delighted with. I'm sure he'd prefer to be head coach but that was never going to happen.

Interesting reading the Ulster thread on this subject now (around p. 76).

Some people got quite cross with me for saying that he wasn't going to be Head of the Academy as they'd have to sack Longwell if that was the case.

edit: Terblanche is going back to SA to head up their player association or something like that.

irishbucsfan

jm08 wrote: »

You thought that McLaughlin was going to be the Head of the Academy as well"



Interesting reading the Ulster thread on this subject now (around p. 76).

Some people got quite cross with me for saying that he wasn't going to be Head of the Academy as they'd have to sack Longwell if that was the case.

edit: Terblanche is going back to SA to head up their player association or something like that.

The telegraph said he was going to be head of the academy originally, they were also wrong. Everyone is capable of being wrong!

Actually, McLaughlin himself calls this a sideways move, so I'm sure he won't have too much of an issue with it

probably the only permanent role in Irish rugby (Bar Donnacha O'Callaghan obviously). Hardly a shafting

phog

irishbucsfan wrote: »

He never even applied for the Head Coach role when originally given the opportunity. The media are trying very hard to make a story out of nothing.

I've no idea what the true story is but David Humphreys looked very uncomfortable in taking questions on the issue recently, if it was as straight forward as he never applied you'd have to wonder why David's answer wasn't as straight forward.

jm08

irishbucsfan wrote: »

The telegraph said he was going to be head of the academy originally, they were also wrong. Everyone is capable of being wrong!

Actually, McLaughlin himself calls this a sideways move, so I'm sure he won't have too much of an issue with it

The Telegraph were only repeating what Ulster Rugby told them though you'd expect them to kind of wonder how they were going to to that considering they already had Gary Longwell as head of the academy.

bilston

jacothelad wrote: »

He hasn't been shafted. He isn't good enough. Too many selectorial blunders, crass decisions and ineffectual rugby.

You see Jaco your post makes as much sense as the OP. He got to the HEC Final FFS, how is he not good enough!?

I am pie

bilston wrote: »

You see Jaco your post makes as much sense as the OP. He got to the HEC Final FFS, how is he not good enough!?

Look, we need to be realistic here. It was a fantastic achievement to get there, but we squeaked past Munster and Edinburgh to do so and were exposed in the final. This was a glorious cup run, it categorically does not mean we are now the 2nd best team in Europe, or realistically across the season I think we are still short of being consistantly a better team than Munster.

For me the real test of Ulster is actually league form and how the head coach manages the squad across the season.

We need someone to lead a professional coaching set up, ensure the team are coached to make the right decisions on the pitch and ensure consistancy of selection and playing style.

It's clear the senior pro's are steering the ship at the minute, which is a massive risk when injuries, suspensions and players leaving are taken into consideration. Mclaughlin is not that man.

It's a brave decision, but it definitely is the right one. It also plays to Mclaughlins strengths, player development and talen identification.

jacothelad

bilston wrote: »

You see Jaco your post makes as much sense as the OP. He got to the HEC Final FFS, how is he not good enough!?

I think, while he is reportedly a good skills coach in certain areas, he is not the right man as head coach of Ulster. We both think differently about him. From the information available to both of us we also know how much of an input came from other sources inside the set up. I don't think he is good enough, you do. It's not unusual to have different opinions Bils. Obviously, if I am wrong, there will be a steady stream of clubs beating a path to Brian's door waving lucrative contracts.

The Rooster

I am pie wrote: »

For me the real test of Ulster is actually league form and how the head coach manages the squad across the season.

Interesting analysis from an Ulster fan.

Got out of a ferciously difficult group containing Clermont and Leicester, went to Fortress Thomond and defeated Munster, and got through a potential bananaskin against the conquerors of Toulouse to make it to the European Cup final.

Excluding Leinster, imo the best performance of any team this year was the demolition of Leicester in Ravenhill. Phenomenal performance.

To me its undisputable that Ulster were one of the Top 3 sides in Europe this season (you could argue between them and Clermont for 2nd - in a truly neutral venue I don't think Clermont would have got within 10 points of Leinster either and I think the scores in the last 10 minutes of the final with Ulster down to 14 put an unfair distance on the scoresheet)

But apparently Ulster failed the "real test" of making it into the top 4 in the Rabo Pro 12.

A tough crowd to please!

bilston

I am Pie/Jaco, I actually think that Brian going to the Academy, or at least identifying and teaching players before they go into the Academy is a good move, however I'm far from convinced by Anscombe and I do think that we sometimes need to be careful what we wish for. However I'll be supporting Anscombe all the way despite my reservations and believe me I'll be delighted to come on here in 12 months time and bow down to him and say what a wonderful coach he is.

Anyway with the greatest respect Jaco the idea that McLaughlin isn't good enough just doesn't add up to me. He's coached Ulster for three years and the contrast between then and now is remarkable. Sure he's had assistancew from Muller but all head coaches have assistants. Graham Henry, Dean Richards, Joe Schmidt, Nick Mallet etc etc they don't all work on their own.

When McLaughlin took over we were coming 3rd in our HEC pool and languishing 8th and 9th in the ML. In three years he's taken us to the Q/F of the HEC, the semi final of the ML and the Final of the HEC. Our league form this season was tarnished by two bad results and by the end it was blighted by our focus on the HEC. The home defeat to Treviso and the second half collapse in Cardiff were bad. However all this proved was that we lack strength in depth and this was highlighted by the last 20 minutes in the HEC final. This is why it's right we strengthen the Academy so that in 5 years time we have 40 homegrown players of real quality to call upon in the same way as Leinster do now and having Brian heavily involved in that is a good thing. However a lack of depth doesn't IMO prove that Brian isn't good enough.

jm08

Deleted User wrote: »

probably the only permanent role in Irish rugby (Bar Donnacha O'Callaghan obviously). Hardly a shafting

Isn't Justin Dee permanent (or at least he probably expects to get his contract renewed if he is making his targets). Browne, Wigglesworth, Dawson, Fitzgerald all seem pretty permanent even though they too are more than likely not to be 'permanent'.

Fishooks12

I think he showed his weakness from the quarters on when he employed a much more reserved brand of rugby

jm08

Bilson, after one of Ulster's big wins (and before he got the bullet), Alan Quinlan wrote an article in the Irish Times on what a great coach Brian McLaughlin was, particularly at the breakdown.

buck65

The Rooster wrote: »

Interesting analysis from an Ulster fan.

Got out of a ferciously difficult group containing Clermont and Leicester, went to Fortress Thomond and defeated Munster, and got through a potential bananaskin against the conquerors of Toulouse to make it to the European Cup final.

Excluding Leinster, imo the best performance of any team this year was the demolition of Leicester in Ravenhill. Phenomenal performance.

To me its undisputable that Ulster were one of the Top 3 sides in Europe this season (you could argue between them and Clermont for 2nd - in a truly neutral venue I don't think Clermont would have got within 10 points of Leinster either and I think the scores in the last 10 minutes of the final with Ulster down to 14 put an unfair distance on the scoresheet)

But apparently Ulster failed the "real test" of making it into the top 4 in the Rabo Pro 12.

A tough crowd to please!

This is the most sensible post on this topic that I have read. Some of the arguments here and elsewhere are laughable.
The above sums it up. Mc Laughlin not good enough? you must be joking.

Fishooks12

buck65 wrote: »

This is the most sensible post on this topic that I have read. Some of the arguments here and elsewhere are laughable.
The above sums it up. Mc Laughlin not good enough? you must be joking.

Think of the group of players he was working with though, very talented

Ulster played some fantastic rugby in the group stages but seemed to revert to a less expansive gameplan thereafter

They were fortunate not to blow their lead against Munster because they went back into their shells and defended the lead, against Edinburgh they barely got over the line in the end against a far inferior team

Not to mention the error in selection I think he made in regard to Jackson

he did a good job alright but I think a superior coach could have done a better one

bilston

Fishooks12 wrote: »

Think of the group of players he was working with though, very talented

Ulster played some fantastic rugby in the group stages but seemed to revert to a less expansive gameplan thereafter

They were fortunate not to blow their lead against Munster because they went back into their shells and defended the lead, against Edinburgh they barely got over the line in the end against a far inferior team

Not to mention the error in selection I think he made in regard to Jackson

he did a good job alright but I think a superior coach could have done a better one

Humphreys suffered bad concussion against Connacht a few weeks ago, and wasn't really fit, besides he hadn't been playing well anyway. Jackson had proved both against Connacht and Leinster in the league that he was up to it. It went wrong in the final but that's what sometimes happens.

I don't think McLaughlin had any choice but to pick Jackson.

jm08

buck65 wrote: »

This is the most sensible post on this topic that I have read. Some of the arguments here and elsewhere are laughable.
The above sums it up. Mc Laughlin not good enough? you must be joking.

Was all the coaching just down to himself & Doak? Had a look at their site and they dont seem to have forwards, scrum, skills or defence coaches.

Wheeker

bilston wrote: »

I am Pie/Jaco, I actually think that Brian going to the Academy, or at least identifying and teaching players before they go into the Academy is a good move, however I'm far from convinced by Anscombe and I do think that we sometimes need to be careful what we wish for. However I'll be supporting Anscombe all the way despite my reservations and believe me I'll be delighted to come on here in 12 months time and bow down to him and say what a wonderful coach he is.

Anyway with the greatest respect Jaco the idea that McLaughlin isn't good enough just doesn't add up to me. He's coached Ulster for three years and the contrast between then and now is remarkable. Sure he's had assistancew from Muller but all head coaches have assistants. Graham Henry, Dean Richards, Joe Schmidt, Nick Mallet etc etc they don't all work on their own.

When McLaughlin took over we were coming 3rd in our HEC pool and languishing 8th and 9th in the ML. In three years he's taken us to the Q/F of the HEC, the semi final of the ML and the Final of the HEC. Our league form this season was tarnished by two bad results and by the end it was blighted by our focus on the HEC. The home defeat to Treviso and the second half collapse in Cardiff were bad. However all this proved was that we lack strength in depth and this was highlighted by the last 20 minutes in the HEC final. This is why it's right we strengthen the Academy so that in 5 years time we have 40 homegrown players of real quality to call upon in the same way as Leinster do now and having Brian heavily involved in that is a good thing. However a lack of depth doesn't IMO prove that Brian isn't good enough.

The Rooster wrote: »

Interesting analysis from an Ulster fan.

Got out of a ferciously difficult group containing Clermont and Leicester, went to Fortress Thomond and defeated Munster, and got through a potential bananaskin against the conquerors of Toulouse to make it to the European Cup final.

Excluding Leinster, imo the best performance of any team this year was the demolition of Leicester in Ravenhill. Phenomenal performance.

To me its undisputable that Ulster were one of the Top 3 sides in Europe this season (you could argue between them and Clermont for 2nd - in a truly neutral venue I don't think Clermont would have got within 10 points of Leinster either and I think the scores in the last 10 minutes of the final with Ulster down to 14 put an unfair distance on the scoresheet)

But apparently Ulster failed the "real test" of making it into the top 4 in the Rabo Pro 12.

A tough crowd to please!

Totally agree with both of these posts. I am sometimes exasperated by certain Ulster fans who post here as they seem incredibly critical & negative about the team they supposedly "support". As above, BMcL has totally turned Ulster around in only three seasons. The days of Solomons, McCall, Williams et al seem to be easily forgotten by some. This has been Ulster's most successful season for 13 years - FACT.

I also get exasperated by the never-ending gossip as to the what is supposedly behind BMcL's move & where he is moving to, it really is hard to know what/who to believe. I am indeed disappointed that Ulster's most successful coach in 13 years, and a homegrown one at that, is apparantly being "let go". Also, I am concerned that Anscombe does not seem to have a great pedigree (as Quinlan recently wrote, we seem to have an unhealthy inferiority complex as regards Irish v Kiwi coaches). However, I cling on to the knowledge that David Humphreys (& Shane Logan) have recruited incredibly well to-date player-wise (it would have been a fantasy a few years ago that we could have recruited a player the calibre of Ruan Piennar!:D). Therefore, as any supporter would, next season I will just have to move on & support my team regardless.

In the meantime, a huge thanks is due to BMcL for everything he has done for Ulster Rugby!:)

irishbucsfan

JM08, the Ulster site seems ridiculous when you look at it! How can two men run a professional rugby team!

Isn't Johnny Bell still working with them? Where is that S&C guy who is in all the videos? By all accounts Muller is effectively the forwards coach anyway. BJ Botha was always described as effectively being Ulsters scrum coach, I wonder has anyone stepped in to fill that void?

It's a pretty confusing setup alright.

bilston

irishbucsfan wrote: »

JM08, the Ulster site seems ridiculous when you look at it! How can two men run a professional rugby team!

Isn't Johnny Bell still working with them? Where is that S&C guy who is in all the videos? By all accounts Muller is effectively the forwards coach anyway. BJ Botha was always described as effectively being Ulsters scrum coach, I wonder has anyone stepped in to fill that void?

It's a pretty confusing setup alright.

Sure the Ulster Academy profiles are based on the 2010/11 season. Apparently Craig Gilroy is still in it! A lot of things sometimes seem to be kept very secretive in Ulster rugby...

irishbucsfan

Wheeker wrote: »

bilston wrote: »

I am Pie/Jaco, I actually think that Brian going to the Academy, or at least identifying and teaching players before they go into the Academy is a good move, however I'm far from convinced by Anscombe and I do think that we sometimes need to be careful what we wish for. However I'll be supporting Anscombe all the way despite my reservations and believe me I'll be delighted to come on here in 12 months time and bow down to him and say what a wonderful coach he is.

Anyway with the greatest respect Jaco the idea that McLaughlin isn't good enough just doesn't add up to me. He's coached Ulster for three years and the contrast between then and now is remarkable. Sure he's had assistancew from Muller but all head coaches have assistants. Graham Henry, Dean Richards, Joe Schmidt, Nick Mallet etc etc they don't all work on their own.

When McLaughlin took over we were coming 3rd in our HEC pool and languishing 8th and 9th in the ML. In three years he's taken us to the Q/F of the HEC, the semi final of the ML and the Final of the HEC. Our league form this season was tarnished by two bad results and by the end it was blighted by our focus on the HEC. The home defeat to Treviso and the second half collapse in Cardiff were bad. However all this proved was that we lack strength in depth and this was highlighted by the last 20 minutes in the HEC final. This is why it's right we strengthen the Academy so that in 5 years time we have 40 homegrown players of real quality to call upon in the same way as Leinster do now and having Brian heavily involved in that is a good thing. However a lack of depth doesn't IMO prove that Brian isn't good enough.

The Rooster wrote: »

Interesting analysis from an Ulster fan.

Got out of a ferciously difficult group containing Clermont and Leicester, went to Fortress Thomond and defeated Munster, and got through a potential bananaskin against the conquerors of Toulouse to make it to the European Cup final.

Excluding Leinster, imo the best performance of any team this year was the demolition of Leicester in Ravenhill. Phenomenal performance.

To me its undisputable that Ulster were one of the Top 3 sides in Europe this season (you could argue between them and Clermont for 2nd - in a truly neutral venue I don't think Clermont would have got within 10 points of Leinster either and I think the scores in the last 10 minutes of the final with Ulster down to 14 put an unfair distance on the scoresheet)

But apparently Ulster failed the "real test" of making it into the top 4 in the Rabo Pro 12.

A tough crowd to please!

Totally agree with both of these posts. I am sometimes exasperated by certain Ulster fans who post here as they seem incredibly critical & negative about the team they supposedly "support". As above, BMcL has totally turned Ulster around in only three seasons. The days of Solomons, McCall, Williams et al seem to be easily forgotten by some. This has been Ulster's most successful season for 13 years - FACT.

I also get exasperated by the never-ending gossip as to the what is supposedly behind BMcL's move & where he is moving to, it really is hard to know what/who to believe. I am indeed disappointed that Ulster's most successful coach in 13 years, and a homegrown one at that, is apparantly being "let go". Also, I am concerned that Anscombe does not seem to have a great pedigree (as Quinlan recently wrote, we seem to have an unhealthy inferiority complex as regards Irish v Kiwi coaches). However, I cling on to the knowledge that David Humphreys (& Shane Logan) have recruited incredibly well to-date player-wise (it would have been a fantasy a few years ago that we could have recruited a player the calibre of Ruan Piennar!:D). Therefore, as any supporter would, next season I will just have to move on & support my team regardless.

In the meantime, a huge thanks is due to BMcL for everything he has done for Ulster Rugby!:)

Sorry but Ulster actually won something under Mark McCall!

bilston

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Sorry but Ulster actually won something under Mark McCall!

We did indeed and McCall can be very proud of that achievement.

The danger is that we didn't kick on from winning the CL in 2006, maybe that's one of the motivations behind the decision to bring in someone else, we rested on our laurels after 1999 and did so again in 2006, we cannot afford to do it now. Maybe that's part of the rationale behind things.

Wheeker

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Sorry but Ulster actually won something under Mark McCall!

Oh I know, that 2005/6 CL title was a great acheivement at the time. However, it did all go pear shaped the following season. I was disappointed when Mark McCall left, felt he should have been given longer to try to turn it around. However, maybe perversely, but I rank this season as a better season than 2005/6 even though we have no silverware to show for it.

jacothelad

bilston wrote: »

I am Pie/Jaco, I actually think that Brian going to the Academy, or at least identifying and teaching players before they go into the Academy is a good move, however I'm far from convinced by Anscombe and I do think that we sometimes need to be careful what we wish for. However I'll be supporting Anscombe all the way despite my reservations and believe me I'll be delighted to come on here in 12 months time and bow down to him and say what a wonderful coach he is.

Anyway with the greatest respect Jaco the idea that McLaughlin isn't good enough just doesn't add up to me. He's coached Ulster for three years and the contrast between then and now is remarkable. Sure he's had assistancew from Muller but all head coaches have assistants. Graham Henry, Dean Richards, Joe Schmidt, Nick Mallet etc etc they don't all work on their own.

When McLaughlin took over we were coming 3rd in our HEC pool and languishing 8th and 9th in the ML. In three years he's taken us to the Q/F of the HEC, the semi final of the ML and the Final of the HEC. Our league form this season was tarnished by two bad results and by the end it was blighted by our focus on the HEC. The home defeat to Treviso and the second half collapse in Cardiff were bad. However all this proved was that we lack strength in depth and this was highlighted by the last 20 minutes in the HEC final. This is why it's right we strengthen the Academy so that in 5 years time we have 40 homegrown players of real quality to call upon in the same way as Leinster do now and having Brian heavily involved in that is a good thing. However a lack of depth doesn't IMO prove that Brian isn't good enough.

I do agree with most of what you say. I didn't ever say McL. is a bad coach, I said he wasn't, in my view, a good head coach. As for the improvement in the last 3 years, a lot is down to the presence of guys like Botha, Pienaar, Wannenberg, Muller, Afoa. I'd expect Solomons and even McCall to have been at least as successful if they had players of this quality linked with the emergence or good form of Ferris, Best, Cave etc.

Like you I have no idea about Anscombe and truth be told I'd rather keep McL. than bring in someone with no pedigree / one as limited as his. The die is cast however.

jm08 wrote: »

Isn't Justin Dee permanent (or at least he probably expects to get his contract renewed if he is making his targets). Browne, Wigglesworth, Dawson, Fitzgerald all seem pretty permanent even though they too are more than likely not to be 'permanent'.

I didn't know these guys were on the coaching staff. I think even you could understand that there is a difference between a coach on a contract and a full time, support employee.

irishbucsfan wrote: »

JM08, the Ulster site seems ridiculous when you look at it! How can two men run a professional rugby team!

Isn't Johnny Bell still working with them? Where is that S&C guy who is in all the videos? By all accounts Muller is effectively the forwards coach anyway. BJ Botha was always described as effectively being Ulsters scrum coach, I wonder has anyone stepped in to fill that void?

It's a pretty confusing setup alright.

Bell is 'defence' coach.

leonard7

I don't see it as a case of Brian not being good enough, the recent two seasons have shown he is good enough. It's more a case of wanting better and with R-Mac bank rolling us then you have to try to become worldbeaters.

jacothelad

leonard7 wrote: »

I don't see it as a case of Brian not being good enough, the recent two seasons have shown he is good enough. It's more a case of wanting better and with R-Mac bank rolling us then you have to try to become worldbeaters.

RMac doesn't. The IRFU DO.

leonard7

jacothelad wrote: »

RMac doesn't. The IRFU DO.

a joke by all means...it would appear my hatred of smilies/emoticons has done me wrong

bilston

jacothelad wrote: »

I do agree with most of what you say. I didn't ever say McL. is a bad coach, I said he wasn't, in my view, a good head coach. As for the improvement in the last 3 years, a lot is down to the presence of guys like Botha, Pienaar, Wannenberg, Muller, Afoa. I'd expect Solomons and even McCall to have been at least as successful if they had players of this quality linked with the emergence or good form of Ferris, Best, Cave etc.

Like you I have no idea about Anscombe and truth be told I'd rather keep McL. than bring in someone with no pedigree / one as limited as his. The die is cast however.

Fair play.

It will be interesting to see how it all pans out anyway. I'd be lying if I said the idea of having a Kiwi in charge doesn't intrigue me a little. I'd be wary that people are expecting Anscombe to be next Joe Schmidt...maybe he will be...but as long as people are patient that's all he can ask for. For example it would be silly to say that at least reaching the final of the HEC would be a failure. However in saying that I'd be disapointed if we didn't make the knockout stages in both the HEC and league next season.