History shows it can be done. Back in 2013, with Warren Gatland having stepped away to prepare for that summer’s British & Irish Lions tour, Rob Howley took over as interim Wales head coach and the national side ended up as tournament winners. Beating England by a record 30-3 margin in Cardiff will forever rank among the great Welsh rugby days.
This time the “deputy dawg” with the interim sheriff’s badge on his tracksuit is Ireland’s Simon Easterby. Andy Farrell will not be too far away but his Lions responsibilities have left his assistant in temporary charge. Win a third straight title, in the process becoming the first nation to do so since the tournament expanded 25 years ago, and the coaching tweak will be a minor footnote. Should Ireland endure a significant dip, though, perceptions can swiftly change.
Welcome to the precarious world of the backroom boss. No one will be more keenly aware than Easterby that Farrell’s ability to motivate players and send them out at the right emotional pitch is among the latter’s biggest strengths. Which makes his leadership shoes particularly big ones to fill, let alone on the opening weekend of a highly competitive Six Nations.
Who will start at 10 for Ireland during the Six Nations?
On the other hand what an opportunity this is for the 49-year-old Easterby to enhance an already quietly impressive CV. Sixty-five caps for Ireland as a back-row forward, six years as captain of the Scarlets in Wales and 11 seasons in the Irish coaching set-up under Joe Schmidt and Farrell are the mark of a highly capable individual who, like Farrell, has an instinctive feel for the needs of the modern player.
Ask Caelan Doris, Ireland’s captain, about Easterby and his testimony is glowing. “He’s a very warm guy who has your best interests as a player at heart. He spends plenty of time one-on-one with players and he’s got a ton of respect among the group. He’s very detail oriented but can also hit the right emotional notes and tones. Being a back-rower like he was … he would have invested a lot of time in me, for which I’m very grateful.”
The Easterby work ethic is clearly super strong – “even on the flight over to Rome for the Six Nations launch he had the laptop out going over extra analysis,” confirms Doris – but there is also a streak of fun in there. According to Doris he likes to bring “a bit of humour to his meetings” and, judging by some of the tales in his 2011 autobiography Easter’s Rising, he was not averse to mixing work and pleasure in his playing days.
A good example was his stag party in 2005 when, in company with his older brother Guy, he found himself watching cricket at Grace Road where Leicestershire were hosting Australia. “I found my way up to the Australian dressing room. Guy and I just walked past whoever was at the bottom of the stairs and knocked on the door. It opened and there they all were, sitting around during the tea interval. ‘Isn’t it time you retired, Ricky?’ was my question to the legendary Australian captain, Ricky Ponting … I was asked to leave. England went on to win the Ashes later that summer. I always feel I had a small part to play in that victory with my small, slightly intoxicated intervention on behalf of English cricket.”
Easterby, famously, also has family connections in the world of horse racing. His father, Henry, owned a stud farm and his grandfather Walter was a racehorse trainer, as were his father’s well-known uncles, Peter and Mick Easterby. Simon was born in Harrogate and grew up in the Yorkshire Dales but, not unlike his fellow northerner Farrell, he has strong family links with Ireland through his mother, Katherine, who grew up in Dublin and was an Irish hockey international.
Even when Clive Woodward asked whether he fancied touring with England in 2000 he politely turned down the invitation to follow the Irish route. It was his years in Wales, though, that saw him mature into a tough, consistent international class player and he still cites two Llanelli legends, Gareth Jenkins and Phil Davies, as key coaching influences. “It’s a pretty simple game even though we try and complicate it at times. Gareth had an incredible ability to get the best out of people who probably, as individuals, weren’t as good as others. As a team we probably batted above our average and were able to achieve some success but a lot of it was down to the coaching style of people like Gareth and, latterly, Phil.”
The trick now is to preside over something similar in Farrell’s absence. Easterby, previously forwards coach, will continue to take charge of defence but is well aware another triumphant season will require fresh impetus. “We’re not shifting too far away from what’s gone before but we also know that to stay ahead of the curve we need to keep evolving. Otherwise people will just catch us up and what has gone before won’t be good enough. We’ve got to keep pushing how we attack and defend to make sure we stay ahead of that.”
The media aspect of the role certainly should not be a problem given he is married to the television presenter Sarra Elgan, whose father, Elgan Rees, also played for Wales and the Lions. They have two children, the youngest of whom, Ffredi, was a member of the victorious Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg team in last year’s Welsh Intermediate Schools Year 10 Cup at the Principality Stadium with his father acting as water boy.
This Saturday’s Ireland-England Six Nations opener in Dublin will require him to be considerably more hands-on. “It is a different dynamic when you’re leading the group, as opposed to being an assistant. I guess as the head coach you’ve got to look at the game more holistically.” Press all the right buttons in Farrell’s absence and Easterby will not be a deputy head indefinitely. — Guardian
