10 rugby coaches that bounced back after getting the sack
There are some rugby coaches that have never recovered from being sacked, and it altogether ended their careers. There are many, however, who have dusted themselves off and bounced back, so much so that past failings are quickly forgotten. With those in mind, here are the ten rugby coaches that bounced back after getting the sack:
Stuart Lancaster
After England were unceremoniously dumped out of their own Rugby World Cup in 2015 in the pool stages, there was only one outcome for head coach Stuart Lancaster, and he left by mutual consent that November.
He joined the Leinster coaching team in September 2016, working with Leo Cullen, and his career has blossomed since then, winning the Champions Cup in 2018 and back-to-back Guinness Pro14 titles.
Richard Cockerill
In January 2017, Richard Cockerill’s 25-year association with Leicester Tigers as a player and a coach came to an end when he was sacked following a rare slump for the club.
The former hooker had a brief stint in Toulon, before taking charge of Edinburgh at the beginning of the 2017/18 season. He has since led a revival in the Scottish capital, with his side sitting top of the Pro14 Conference B before the coronavirus suspension, whilst Leicester’s fortunes have not improved.
Ugo Mola
In a partnership with Régis Sonnes, Ugo Mola is now the man spearheading Toulouse’s return to the top of European rugby having won the Top 14 last season. However, his resume is not all that flattering, having been dismissed by Castres in December 2007. The former France international’s time with Toulouse has not been plain sailing either, and his job was in jeopardy after a 12th place finish in 2017, but the French giants look to be returning to their glory days.
Mark McCall
The man who replaced Mola at Castres, Mark McCall (alongside Jeremy Davidson), had recently seen his time in charge of Ulster end in tatters. While he did not actually get sacked, rather he resigned, his future at Ravenhill was in serious peril.
He joined Saracens in 2009 as part of Brendan Venter’s coaching team, and the rest is history. He took over the team midway though the 2010/11 season after the South African left, and has guided the London side to five Premiership titles and three Champions Cups.
Fabien Galthié
Having butted heads with the club’s brass during his time with Montpellier, Fabien Galthié was dismissed midway through the 2014/15 season, bringing to an end a four-year association with them.
Now the man in control of a French rejuvenation after being given the reins of the team after the RWC, having worked under Jacques Brunel, the former France captain has not been set back by his spell in the south of France.
Eddie Jones
Despite a runners-up medal at the 2003 RWC, Eddie Jones was sacked by Australia in December 2005. Since then, he has been a bit of a nomad of world rugby, finding a lot of success on his travels though.
A technical director for the Springboks at the 2007 RWC, the mastermind of Japan’s heroics at the 2015 RWC, and now England’s head coach leading them to the final in Japan last year, Jones has gone from strength to strength after his sacking.
John Mitchell
Following the All Blacks‘ semi-final loss to the Wallabies at the 2003 RWC, head coach John Mitchell was sacked, which led to a spate of jobs over the succeeding years in New Zealand, South Africa, England and the United States.
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He was brought in to the England coaching setup in 2018 under Jones to help stop the rot during a tough year. He has since revived England, and has been one of the main reasons behind their resurgence and path to the RWC final.
Michael Cheika
Sandwiched between his successful stints with Leinster and the New South Wales Waratahs, winning the Heineken Cup and Super Rugby with both, Michael Cheika had a less-than-glamorous two-year stint with Stade Francais, which ended with his sacking in 2012.
He became Wallabies coach in 2014, which he held until 2019, during which time he won the Rugby Championship, made the RWC final, and was crowned the World Rugby coach of the year.
Warren Gatland
Given his three Grand Slams with Wales, a further Six Nations title, a series win and a draw with the British and Irish Lions, and even his three Premiership titles and a Heineken Cup with Wasps, it is easy to forget that Warren Gatland was Ireland’s coach at the beginning of the century.
The current Chiefs coach was in charge of Ireland between 1998-2001, but was surprisingly sacked in the November of 2001 in the face of overseeing an improvement by the team.
Graham Henry
Despite a brilliant start to his time as head coach of Wales in 1998, Graham Henry’s tenure slowly unravelled, culminating in him leaving his post in February 2002 after a record 54-10 loss to Ireland.
He became the All Blacks’ head coach in 2004, and was the architect of the team’s domination of rugby over the next decade and beyond, retiring after the victorious 2011 RWC.
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments