Eddie is gone but gets 750,000 euro pay out
Thursday, 20 March 2008

After 6 and a half years Eddie O'Sullivan has stepped down as the coach of the Irish rugby team. His resignation does not come as a surprise as he coached Ireland to it's worst 6 nations campaign since 1999.

"At the conclusion of the Six Nations championship and having given my role as national team head coach much consideration, I have come to the decision to step down," O'Sullivan said in a statement reported on RTE. He went on to thank the IRFU, the supporters , the team itself, before asking for privacy going forward "'I will not be making any further comments on this issue for the foreseeable future, and I would ask that the privacy of both myself and my family at this time be respected."

The guardian reports "O'Sullivan's contract had been the subject of much comment when it was extended by four years before Ireland left for the World Cup. The pressure intensified after the tournament but it is understood he had negotiated a generous opt-out payment in the event of the IRFU wanting to terminate the contract. It is not known whether the IRFU managed to renegotiate that figure downwards or if it had to pay the full amount, believed to be about €750,000 (£590,000)."

AFP muse that "..O'Sullivan is credited with bringing Irish rugby into the professional era but was criticised for developing a talented group of players that should have done better.
Names likely to figure in the race to succeed him are Munster coach Declan Kidney, World Cup winning South African coach Jake White and Australian Pat Howard, formerly of Leicester Tigers. Former Ireland scrumhalf and current Connacht coach Michael Bradley is also an outsider."

The International Herald Tribune believe that Munster's Declan Kidney and South Africa's World Cup-winning coach, Jake White, are the bookmakers' early favourites to succeed O'Sullivan. (Additional reporting by Ossian Shine; Editing by Ed Osmond) are the current runners in place to take over for fixtures with the Barbarians, New Zealand and Australia in May and June.

Tags: rugby,eddie o'sullivan,rugby world Cup,six nations


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Posted by Geraco C Thursday, March 20, 2008    

Labels: news review

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