I'm always amazed by the antipathy to EOS. He had a bad WC with Ireland, but he also won a couple of TCs and all his team's back play was very refreshing. DK won the Grand Slam on the basis of EOS' work in my opinion....he did very little after. EOS is very aloof and standoffish, but he knows his rugby. His record in Biarritz has to be framed in a a club that no longer had a sugar Daddy in a sugar Daddy World, given that I thought he did ok with thehm...better than Jackman.

For sure, I'd prefer Gibbes or Lancaster. I'm not sure on Ryan. The Gold Medal for me was a combination of the natural 7's game and skill set of the Fijians, and he managed to get them to be much more disciplined in their approach; but I do not think it was a "coached" win. So if we were to get a local, I'd prefer EOS. Neil Doak for me needs more experience but to be fair, I think Ulster were better under him than the latest regime, and given their squad they are really underachieving and I blame the Les Kiss for that more than him.

Nigel Carolan rules himself out, says he is happy to continue being Academy Coach for time being

m.independent.ie/sport/rugby/connacht-ru...lf-out-35402305.html

Megatron wrote:

salmson wrote: Ben Ryan's contract with the WRU is only for 2 months on a consultancy basis, so he might still be a runner.

Where did you read that? Would love to see Ryan on board

Wales online, it's very click-bait-y to the point of troll-y, but their rugby correspondent Simon Thomas is quite good, well worth a follow on Twitter, which is how I found this out.

www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-...CID=sharebar_twitter

Q: Ben Ryan - the man who coached Fiji to Olympics Sevens gold - has just joined the WRU as a consultant. What are you expecting from him?

A: We have been talking to Ben for ages. I have known him for a large number of years from the Sevens circuit. I think he is different, he is a real deep thinker of the game.

We are in a lot of competition with a lot of other countries that wanted him. He is doing a lot of work with New York Nicks at the moment on the performance side. He is only here for 50-70 days, but what he can bring in that time in terms of how do we plan. When you look at what he did with Fiji, knowing the individuals, knowing the culture, it was very impressive.
Ben Ryan

Not often you have an Olympic gold-medal winning coach you can bring in and talk to the players. He’s available for the regions and the Academies, for coach development days and he can spend time with U20s looking at how we prepare.

We have got the Sevens as well, so he can help when it comes to how we prepare for the Commonwealth Games. He may come up with ideas we can take on board in terms of what he has learned preparing players. He is really excited about joining us.

Megatron wrote:

salmson wrote: Ben Ryan's contract with the WRU is only for 2 months on a consultancy basis, so he might still be a runner.

Where did you read that? Would love to see Ryan on board

Am I the only one who is not enthusiastic about seeing Ben Ryan as head coach? As we have seen from a number of our signings in recent years, 7's is a totally different game to 15's and I don't want to have a coach learning on the job in Connacht.

Saying that, if it was a choice between himself, Doak and Eddie there would only be one winner.

salmson wrote: Ben Ryan's contract with the WRU is only for 2 months on a consultancy basis, so he might still be a runner.

Where did you read that? Would love to see Ryan on board

Ryan is a very interesting candidate, if a little left field. I would hope that Gibbes and Lancaster remain options. Any update on this anyone?

I dread the day that I wake up to hear Eddie O'Sullivan or Neil Doak have been appointed.

Ben Ryan's contract with the WRU is only for 2 months on a consultancy basis, so he might still be a runner.

FACECUTTR wrote: Besides head coach who else are we short in the coaching side ? I know we lost the skills coach. Do we have a defence coach or is that just part of someone else's job.

Very open to correction but I don't believe we have a dedicated defence coach. It's a shared responsibility between Lam, Duffy and McPhillips I think.

Besides head coach who else are we short in the coaching side ? I know we lost the skills coach. Do we have a defence coach or is that just part of someone else's job.

Sol_ie wrote: That entire article is why it might suit McKee to come to Connacht, and nothing about what he might bring to the table.

If I were the cynical kind, and I am, I'd wonder if an outsider on the interview panel is getting outvoted and leaked this to fly a flag for his man.

That entire article is why it might suit McKee to come to Connacht, and nothing about what he might bring to the table.

This is almost certainly a kite being flown by sources within the Branch or the IRFU (with John Fallons byline on the article). While McKee is a decent coach, we should be aiming higher. Despite denials earlier this week Gibbes should not be ruled out of the equation yet.

Fiji coach emerges as serious contender for Connacht job:

www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/connacht-...ht-job-35383546.html

If Lancaster is willing to stay in Ireland (and that's a big if) I can't see him ending up anywhere except Leinster.

Stakeknife84 wrote: Reading the comments here I'm concerned that Connacht will slowly turn in to the West Ham of rugby, always banging on about the "Connacht Way". Alex Ferguson slated West Ham in his autobiography for the idea that they always had to have an attacking philosophy. Remind me again, how may trophies have West Ham picked up in the last 30 years?

www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/pre...ham-way-9811311.html

Personally I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty. If a coach like Lancester expresses an interest in the job and looks to tweak Connacht's style to make it more pragmatic I'm all for it if it means we win more often and are more competitive in both the Pro 12 and Champions Cup.

Well if you counted up the medals just in the Premier League era of players who came through the West Ham academy (Rio Ferdinand/Frank Lampard/Michael Carrick just for three), they'd probably be considered one of the most successful clubs in English football. What made their players so attractive to big clubs was the coaching philosophy which transferred to the players and on to the pitch.

Every team has a way, and it's usually with a nod to another more successful side, but adapted to the local needs/resources.
For us it is a KIwi /Islander-Hiberno brand of expansive retain the ball Rugby that Pat has implemented and has proved to be successful, when we are not devastated by injury...

But to Lancaster, not saying he is the candidate that I would choose to replace Pat with.
But his sides do not play Ugly Rugby. If you look at the guys that were brought in under his watch for England: Ford, Joseph, Watson etc all who were handled by him in his previous role as coach of the England Saxons..

On the coaching front I'd have little concern, he's as good as anyone out there. But to step into the charismatic shoes of Pat is a big ask of a fairly reserved guy...

connachta wrote: So I'm back
As I said to the mods by MP
I'm sorry if "name-dropping" about Englishmen seemed insistant, that wasn't my intention at all.
Before, it was just a stupid last word to say I'm really not a fan of Lancaster, failed with the home RWC in England, and has not "Connacht style of coaching/play" IMO
But I really love Swift, Cannon etc, and never ever thought anything bad about them !

Glad to be here again, for such a crucial period!

Welcome back Connachta,
Just keep in mind it's Sport & Sport People were talking about here, not Politics...!

Same goes for everyone else...
Cheers
S_P