RUGBY:THE LAST throes of the Eddie O'Sullivan era are expected to be completed within the next few weeks as the key committees in the IRFU come to grips with a sustained decline that culminated in an increasingly ragged 33-10 defeat to England on Saturday.
Despite a note of defiance on Saturday evening, the Ireland head coach looked a forlorn figure and it has become increasingly evident his 78th match in charge, on the Ides of March, will be his last.
A monthly meeting of the full IRFU committee will convene tomorrow evening and though the Six Nations is bound to be raised, any decisions regarding the national coach do not fall under its remit. Instead the union's debriefing committee, which consists of the three men (Neilly Jackson, Noel Murphy and Pat Whelan) who last August prematurely agreed a four-year deal with O'Sullivan from next month until April 2011, will meet in the next week or two with the head coach to review the Six Nations.
Under the new governance structures put in place following the union's "strategic review", it is believed a final decision will rest with the 10-man management committee.
Significantly though, in a sharp contrast to the infamous "blip" comments made by Philip Browne on RTÉ television immediately after Ireland's World Cup exit, the union's chief executive struck a less sanguine note in a written IRFU statement yesterday.
"In response to a number of media queries," Browne was quoted, "the IRFU shares in the disappointment with the out-turn of this year's RBS Six Nations Championship from an Irish perspective and will be undertaking a detailed review of our performance. Our objective in this, as always, will be to ensure the Irish rugby team has in place the optimal structures to allow it to perform at the highest international levels into the future."
In the aftermath of Saturday's defeat - which left Ireland with its lowest championship standing since 1999 - O'Sullivan initially said he was "not going to make any decisions about anything" before maintaining he was "absolutely" the right man for the job and intended "to give everything I have as long as I'm doing it".
If he is taking a bargaining position for pay-off negotiations who could blame him? Informed sources have suggested his new deal would yield at least a one-year severance package, liable to be in the region of €350,000.
Not so with his back-up staff, Niall O'Donovan, Graham Steadman, Brian McLoughlin and Mark Tainton. Their contracts are due to expire next month and so there will be nothing like the same compensation package.
With Jim Williams leaving Munster to join Robbie Deans on the Wallabies' ticket, the forwards coach O'Donovan could return to his native province, but must be well regarded abroad, as is Steadman, Munster's former defensive coach, in union and league.
In initially awarding O'Sullivan another four-year contract last August, Browne also spoke of the union "dealing in four-year cycles" though in fact they haven't done so. It looks as if O'Sullivan ran out of ideas before the World Cup and has been unable to prevent the downturn since.
In Ireland's last 11 matches against frontline opposition, they have lost eight, winning only at home to Italy (twice) and Scotland, and their world ranking has slumped to eighth. But they are underachieving and there is still plenty of talent there.
A proactive union with a real sense of leadership would have moved after the World Cup. That is what the Welsh union did, removing Gareth Jenkins and going after their man. Warren Gatland had the persuasive powers and self-assurance to recruit Shaun Edwards as his defensive coach, and the rewards for union and Gatland alike were instantaneous and on Saturday yielded a second Grand Slam in four years.
Aside from the glaring need to freshen things up, a more enlightened approach is required toward competition for places, use of the bench and players based abroad.
The IRFU need to come to that conclusion in time for Ireland's game against the Barbarians in Gloucester on May 27th and the subsequent trek to new Zealand and Australia.
If they stick with home-grown coaches, Declan Kidney would be the obvious favourite. Michael Bradley would also have his supporters in 62 Lansdowne Road.
If they opt for a fresher outlook from abroad, the former Leinster and Munster coach Alan Gaffney might come into consideration, though he is expected to be confirmed as the new Leinster backs coach this week.
One name that has not yet been bandied about, though he seems an outstanding candidate, is Pat Howard. The former Leicester Tigers coach is believed to have been sounded out by the IRFU at the end of 2005 and will soon be leaving his position as Australia's high-performance director.
Others who could come into the reckoning are Jake White, the World Cup winner jettisoned by the Springboks; John Mitchell, the former All Blacks coach now doing an excellent job with Western Force in the Super 14; and the former Ireland outhalf Brian Smith, doing well at London Irish.
In the fallout from Saturday's defeat it is believed David Wallace's leg injury is not as bad as initially feared (it is not a break), though he may yet be a doubt for Munster's Heineken Cup quarter-final in three weeks' time.
Denis Leamy's shoulder injury, "a stinger", is expected to clear up quickly. And Simon Easterby has told team-mates he is retiring from Test rugby.
