Rugby: Player power having threatened Gary Ella's standing as head coach of Leinster in the preceding few days, player power yesterday came to his rescue and fended off an attempted heave to have him removed.
The entire Leinster squad held a crisis meeting of over three hours yesterday, after which they agreed to pledge their support for the 42-year-old Australian.
On foot of that, the provincial team management committee will meet as scheduled on Thursday to review the season and also discuss recent developments. In the interim, Ella was hardly given a ringing endorsement by his employers in his time of crisis but this is probably due to their procedures as much as anything else.
The aforementioned committee comprises the Leinster chief executive Mick Dawson, chairman Bryan McLoughlin, branch president Louis Magee, incoming president Paddy Boylan and the IRFU's Caleb Powell.
In the light of some Leinster players having gone public with their misgivings about Ella as a head coach, other Leinster players were appalled by the way some of their senior teammates broke ranks and that Ella was being made a scapegoat for Leinster's manifold problems this season.
Captain Reggie Corrigan called a meeting of all the players after he and other senior teammates had met Ella yesterday morning. The squad convened at midday, breaking for lunch, before resuming their discussion until 4 p.m. After this, Corrigan met Ella to inform him of the outcome, and the coach in turn passed this information on to Leinster chief executive Mick Dawson, who issued the following statement.
"Following recent media reports, we want to confirm that the provincial team management committee will meet on Thursday, 13th May, as scheduled, to review the performance of the Leinster team this season.
"Today's special meeting of the Leinster playing squad reaffirmed their support of Gary Ella as coach. The team want to concentrate on Friday night's match against the Gwent Dragons and move on. Their strong support of Gary Ella is acknowledged."
The developments undoubtedly signal a rift within Leinster's playing ranks, which to some extent is a left-over from last season. Disenchanted players who have backboned a depressingly bad Celtic League campaign are unhappy with some of their international contingent for their less than wholehearted approach since the Triple Crown win.
They also believe a few of them instigated this heave against Ella, although front-line international players have not been entirely responsible. As it transpired, while some continued to express reservations about Ella, the majority felt the attempted heave was wrong, and that they should rally round him. Besides they weren't inclined to entrust the same people who chose Ella with picking a successor.
There has been a huge amount of sympathy for Ella, due to inordinate injuries, international demands and off-field gaffes, although Munster have maintained their form much better, not least in the European Cup. Judging from reports originating from inside the camp, discipline has deteriorated, as has their once-famed defence.
Ella attempted to put a brave face on the recent threat to his tenure, which still has two full seasons to run, when speaking on Newstalk's Off the Ball last night.
"I have spoken to the players and they have passed on their confidence so the information written in the paper might not have necessarily been correct. It's always been difficult for the players returning from Six Nations to really motivate themselves to play dead rubbers (in the Celtic League)," he added. "Some guys (the players) have questioned some of the things we have done which is fine as long as it's out in the open and we can discuss it," he commented.
In a subsequent interview on the same programme, Dawson expressed a personal desire for Ella to continue when saying: "I hope so," but added: "I'm not happy with how the team has performed and I'm not happy with the team's results." As to why he couldn't publicly back Ella more strongly, Dawson commented: "It's not my decision. It's a decision to be made by a number of people."
Presuming those people back Ella on Thursday, the biggest losers, in the short-term, could be Gwent Dragons, Leinster's opponents in their final game of the season at Lansdowne on Friday.
