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Leinster raid Cardiff to bolster Leo Cullen's staff

Leinster boss Leo Cullen (Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Leo Cullen’s Leinster have recruited Cardiff’s Gafyn Cooper to succeed Ronan O’Donnell as their team operations manager. It was August 1 when the Irish province advertised the vacancy, a recruitment opening that had O’Donnell taking to LinkedIn to explain why he was leaving.

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“That’s all she wrote. After 20 years, it’s time for a change and for me to move on from Leinster. It was a privilege to have a front row seat for many of the greatest days in the club’s history, from Croke Park and Edinburgh in ’09 to the historic PRO14/United Rugby Championship and European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) Champions Cup double in 2018.

“A special thanks to all the players, coaches and staff over the last 20 years, it was a pleasure to be involved on some small level. I’m going to take a small break before deciding where or what the next adventure is. In the meantime, if anyone would like to connect or discuss potential opportunities, please don’t hesitate to contact me.”

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Leinster’s search to find O’Donnell’s successor has now ended in Cardiff where Cooper, the Welsh region’s long-serving operations manager, will hand over his role to Chris Dicomidis when he moves to Dublin. A statement read: “Chris Dicomidis will return to Cardiff as team manager after long-serving rugby operations manager Gafyn Cooper accepted an opportunity to join Leinster.

“Cooper, who has been with the club since 2006, and is in his 13th season in the current role, will become team operations manager at the Irish province in the new year. An extensive handover period will now begin with former player Dicomidis working alongside Cooper.

United Rugby Championship

P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
Leinster
6
6
0
0
29
2
Glasgow
6
4
2
0
23
3
Bulls
5
4
1
0
19
4
Lions
5
4
1
0
18
5
Connacht
6
3
3
0
18
6
Scarlets
6
3
2
1
16
7
Ulster
6
3
3
0
16
8
Cardiff Rugby
6
3
3
0
16
9
Sharks
5
3
2
0
15
10
Edinburgh
6
2
4
0
13
11
Benetton
6
2
3
1
13
12
Munster
6
2
4
0
12
13
Stormers
5
2
3
0
10
14
Ospreys
6
2
4
0
10
15
Dragons RFC
6
1
5
0
7
16
Zebre
6
1
5
0
7

“Dicomidis is currently Pontypridd head coach and the Welsh Rugby Player Association’s professional development manager at Cardiff. He previously spent three seasons at the Arms Park, making 23 appearances, and hung up his boots earlier this year following a hugely successful semi-professional career, in which he amassed more than 400 appearances for Pontypridd.”

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Cooper, who was a Cardiff youth team captain, said: “The decision to leave Cardiff has been one of the hardest decisions I have made, both on a professional and personal level. My association with Cardiff stems back to 1994, and I have been proud to represent the club as a youth player and in the roles I have held across the academy, Premiership and the professional team since 2006.

“I would like to thank the countless players, back room and administration staff, board members and coaching staff that I have worked alongside, for the help and support they have given me throughout my tenure at the club. I wish the club every success in the future.

“I am hugely excited to be joining Leinster as team operations manager and working alongside the staff and players of such a successful club.”

Dicomidis added: “I’m really grateful to Pontypridd, who allowed me the opportunity to become head coach this year but the chance to move back into the professional game is too good to pass up.”

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Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt said: “We are very sad to see Gafyn leave Cardiff. He is a big part of the club and has done so much behind the scenes over the years. I know it was a tough decision for him as he is a passionate Cardiff man.

“However, we understand it is an exciting opportunity for Gafyn and his wife Dee to gain a new experience and for him to work at Leinster. We wish him all the best and he will always be welcome back at his club Cardiff.

“Chris was an obvious replacement. He is a really good person, knows the environment, has good relationships with staff and players and has a connection with the club. Gafyn and Chris will now work together for a significant handover period to ensure there is a smooth transition.”

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J
JW 29 minutes ago
All Blacks player ratings vs Ireland | Autumn Nations Series

Nah, if you see some picture of a way to blame Dmac rather than the whole team who were slacking and just getting beat by an Argentina team that was up for it then you've got unconscious bias I'm afraid.


The coaching staff (and the team as they had done throughout Fosters era) did just not get them in the right frame of mind. They slackened off after two intense English tests and were slow to build back up into test match intensity after the San Diego run around. You can view that Wellington loss as akin to what went on in Chicago in 2016, it was just delayed a couple of weeks in this instance.


Good reminder of what game management is, unfortunately it doesn't cover all the bases and is missing pivotal parts of lethality.


I think you're misunderstanding the argument, this is about Dmac, not the team, and about his idea of game management, not his application. In none of the games this year, including this weekends one, has he done relentless execution of the basics. His conservative game was neither shrewd or accurate.


The difference here is perspective. You see a win and you want to apply credit, just as you saw a lose and want to apply blame. Dmac's game management in both circumstances was very similar, just in this game I felt that pressure to concentrate on it caused him a few more errors in that application for no real gain in that area, and a much more ineffective attack stop the team from making it a very comfortable game.


The other difference is you a way overplaying Irelands performance imo. They were pathetic. Even in the start of the 2nd when they were trying to get points with the card it felt comfortable they weren't going to have what it takes even if they fixed their error rate. That was the first Bled test where Dmac nearly singlehandedly took an unbeatable 50 lead, a great example of good game management that again just didn't come off. Those tests were not 12 tests ago. Twelve tests ago he was running England around like he'd been in the jersey his whole career. We didn't break any record, the streak is a figment of Irelands imagination to desperately show how good they are to the world. You've been caught hook line and sinker in all these topics sadly.

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