Gerry Thornley On Rugby: Eddie O'Sullivan described his new deal as a "great shot in the arm" and "a timely boost" for the team and the rest of the management staff as well as himself. However, one of the most interesting side-effects of yesterday's development is that it will heighten the speculation as to what will happen to Declan Kidney and Niall O'Donovan especially.
Deciding to grant O'Sullivan an extension is fair enough, but by not extending the same courtesy to his main two assistants, even players will be wondering what will become of Kidney and O'Donovan. As for the dynamics of the management team, it creates the unusual position of seemingly making the assistants more vulnerable than the head coach coming into the World Cup.
As regards their positions, the IRFU chief executive Philip Browne said: "The first thing we want to do is get Rugby World Cup out of the way. We really want to keep everybody focused on the job in hand which is to do the best we can over the next seven weeks. After that there will be a period where we can settle down and review how we've done and where we're going. At that stage we will look at the team management structure. But I don't think we're in a position to even contemplate that at this stage. What we need to do now is get on to the World Cup and do as well as we can there."
Interestingly, when pressed as to whether the IRFU would like to keep Kidney and O'Donovan within the union's system and coaching structures, Browne stated: "I think at the end of the day our policy has always been to try and have Irish coaches coaching Irish teams. When Eddie came in the last time and we changed the coaching structure, it came together with three or four people and I think Eddie has to have a role now in the review process, in terms of putting together the structures that he feels are going to be correct to bring us forward to the next World Cup in 2007."
Interestingly, the clear inference in what was an unusually revealing comment from the normally guarded Browne, was that whereas O'Sullivan was presented with Kidney and O'Donovan as part of a coaching structure that "came together" just under two years ago, this time around O'Sullivan himself will have far more of a say in the make-up of his own backroom staff. Quite why this should be the case this time around and not the last time is a moot point which can only be enlightened by key union figures.
On the surface it would seem to place each of the coaching staff in awkward positions, not least O'Sullivan himself.
"The position would be that everyone will be up for review anyway at the end of this cycle," said O'Sullivan. "What Philip has told me is that we'll wait until after the World Cup and into the new year, and we'll sit down and review the management situation. That's the position, he's the chief executive and that's what he wants to do."
Asked whether it would be his decision O'Sullivan said: "I don't think it will be my decision but I think as the head coach I would have an input into what happens.
"Things have gone well," he added, when pressed further, "and I'd have to say that I'm very happy with the work we've achieved, and again there's decisions for the people who are on the staff as well; where they see their roles. So it's kind of an open door really."
So, not only therefore will O'Sullivan have more of an input, there'll also be the question of whether Kidney and O'Donovan will want to continue in their roles, and what alternatives the future might hold for them. As an aside, they are well regarded in English circles, especially by Nigel Wray at Saracens, where their names have been linked loosely among chattering rugby types.
In any event, it's a decidedly unclear scenario, for there is no obvious route back into the IRFU coaching fold for Kidney and O'Donovan were they to move on from the Irish management team. The IRFU make much of their attempts to nurture indigenous coaches under their director of rugby, Eddie Wigglesworth, though in fact, there would be no obvious replacements from within the system for Kidney and O'Donovan either.
In Leinster, Gary Ella has moved in as head coach and has effectively taken over the backs from Matt Williams and Stephen Aboud, with Willie Anderson remaining as forwards coach. In Munster, Alan Gaffney is head coach with Brian Hickey as his assistant. In Ulster, Alan Solomons is head coach and apparently more hands-on with the backs now that Mark McCall has been rerouted to the under-21s in succession to Michael Bradley, while Alan Kennedy runs the forwards. The latter role is filled by John McKee at Connacht, with Bradley now running the backs as head coach in succession to Steph Nel.
Were Kidney and O'Donovan to move on or sideways, then there might appear to be a certain logic in promoting, say, Willie Anderson as forwards coach and Alan Gaffney as backs coach, but somehow one cannot see this happening.
Bradley is clearly being fast-tracked for bigger things and given he's currently on a one-year deal with Connacht, perhaps sooner rather than later. Elevation to the senior management is probable one day though his coaching CV suggests that he should have more time to cut his teeth at provincial level. The same is even truer of McCall.
It could, of course, be that O'Sullivan will press for the retention of Kidney and O'Donovan, and that they too will want to stay on. In which case, all of this is idle speculation. But the scenario wasn't generated by those of us who will indulge in it.
