Apart from the traditional glut of players retiring, moving, coming and going, the season’s end is also heavily nuanced by the changing of the guard at coaching level in Connacht and Leinster. Joe Schmidt has side stepped more than gone as Matt O’Connor arrives to the RDS, although, Eric Elwood has left Connacht, Pat Lam taking up the western challenge.
The new faces as well as Munster’s Rob Penney and Mark Anscombe in Ulster makes right now the first time in the professional era that all four provinces and the Irish team are governed by non-Irish coaches.
Those coaches will have to consider the coming months as they try to fill the holes that remain in squads. The new IRFU edict of overseas players occupying just one of the 15 positions across the provinces means, for example, Munster needing to replace the retiring Ronan O’Gara with a home-based outhalf. Leinster have brought in outhalf Jimmy Gopperth and had Brian O’Driscoll retired, Leinster would have looked for an outside centre from within as Munster’s Casey Laulala has already taken the 13 overseas shirt.
One of O'Connor's first tasks in Leinster is to decide on how to replace Jonny Sexton, Isa Nacewa and tighthead understudy to Mike Ross, Jamie Hagan. London Irish signed the 25-year-old Hagan, who joined the Leinster Academy as an 18-year-old and was part of the Ireland Under-20 Grand Slam winning side in 2007. The Exiles director of rugby Brian Smith believes Hagan to be a future Test player.
Gopperth will vie with Ian Madigan for Sexton's shirt with South Africa's Zane Kirchener adding some class to the backline and Ireland international Mike McCarthy some backbone to a secondrow not short on it anyway. The 31-year-old McCarthy is set to take up a three-year contract.
In Munster O’Gara’s decision to coach in Racing Metro was a surprise to many and leaves Munster having to replace him with Irish talent, Ian Keatley hoping he will be tasked with the job. Doug Howlett’s forced retirement is further exodus of experience and ability and in that respect the combined rugby scope of record try scoring All Black and the veteran outhalf are virtually irreplaceable.
Loosehead Marcus Horan has retired, while centre Danny Barnes is moving on to England. Prop Wian du Preez is also out, while scrumhalf Peter Stringer will remain with Premiership club Bath, where he moved to from Munster in January of this year.
Hooker Seán Henry moves to Connacht with outhalf Scott Deasy also moving out of the province, Leinster winger Andrew Conway moving in the other direction.
Ulster have little movement although outhalf Niall O'Connor exits to play with Jersey and hooker Nigel Brady teams up with Jeremy Davidson in French Division two side Stade Aurillacois. James McKinney and David McIlwinnie return with tighthead prop Brosnan Ross arriving from Coventry to understudy John Afoa. The overseas players Afoa, Ruan Pienaar and Johann Müller have another year on their contracts with fullback Jared Payne becoming Irish qualified after next season. It leaves Ulster with a pretty settled look.
Connacht have pretty big numbers on the move with McCarthy among 12 going out including international flanker Johnny O’Connor and frontrow Adrian Flavin, both of whom have retired. TJ Anderson is off to the Ealing Trailfinders, Eoghan Grace to Plymouth, Matthew Jarvis to Nottingham, Mark McCrea to Jersey and Fetu’u Vainikolo to Exeter Chiefs.
Fionn Carr, the top try scorer for Connacht during the Magners League 2008/09 campaign, touched down more times than the rest of the squad put together. Back in this year after a two-season spell with Leinster, Carr is Connacht's all-time top try-scorer with 34 tries. Utility back James So'oialo also comes in from Wellington Norths.
