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Van Graan has fuelled speculation that Munster's dream coaching team could sometime become a reality
Having secured his own future at Munster with last week’s contract extension taking him through to 2022, Johann van Grann has now fuelled speculation that Paul O’Connell and Ronan O’Gara, the pair who lifted the trophy when the club last won the European Cup in 2008, could potentially come on board his management ticket.
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Van Grann is hoping to soon tie down deals for current assistants, namely Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones, the former Ireland duo, along with defence coach JP Ferreira.
However, in the run-up to this Saturday’s Champions Cup semi-final versus Saracens in Coventry, the South African let slip he wouldn’t be allergic to working with O’Connell and O’Gara, former players who have been earning their coaching stripes outside of Ireland.
O’Connell is due to leave Stade Francais at the end of the Top 14 season while O’Gara’s current contract at the Super Rugby Crusaders runs out at the end of their season.
“We’ve first got to sort out the guys that we currently have,” Van Graan told Irish TV channel, Virgin Media Sport. “We as a coaching group are working very well together and obviously I came in mid-season last season and we got through last season, did all of our planning, and I’m really enjoying it.
#WATCH Munster head coach Johann van Graan hasn’t ruled out a possible return to the province for Paul O'Connell or Ronan O’Gara as he looks to add to his coaching team for next season@SineadKissane @VMSportIE @Munsterrugby @Paul_OConnell @RonanOGara10 pic.twitter.com/uGX9mrY73a
— Virgin Media News (@VirginMediaNews) April 15, 2019
“Everyone else is really enjoying it. We’re always open to adding some additional personnel. We’ll finish the year first and then make our decisions after.
“Nothing’s ever impossible. Paulie is doing some great work with Stade Français and he’s finishing up. ROG has been absolutely fantastic at Crusaders and he’s possibly the most sought-after coach in the world, if I’m not mistaken.
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“I’ve been in constant contact with them, but there’s a lot of quality coaches all over the world and we’ll do what’s the best for Munster.
“Look, they’re fantastic people and fantastic coaches. We’re all on different journeys in our coaching paths, so I wouldn’t say yes or no to that. We’ll see what the future holds.”
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Stade Français: Paul O’Connell déjà vers la sortie ! https://t.co/q2FwzAD348— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) March 21, 2019
The O’Connell link is interesting. While O’Gara is publicly keen on staying in the game and recently held unsuccessful talks about freelancing for France at the World Cup, O’Connell’s departure from Stade just one year into a two-year deal was followed by a statement that he wouldn’t coach anywhere else next season.
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“I have decided not to stay beyond my contract year with the club and do not plan to join another club next season either,” said O’Connell.
“I had a great adventure at the Stade Francais. I am grateful to the club for the opportunity they gave me to live and work in Paris. I was delighted to be able to work alongside Heyneke Meyer, the staff and all the club’s players.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick 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.
30 Go to comments