Getting his kicks from preparation

AFTER Ronan O’Gara landed his match-winning kick against Leicester last month in the Heineken Cup he paid tribute to IRFU kicking coach Mark Tainton. Last Sunday another Tainton pupil, Paddy Wallace, impressed for Ireland against the Pacific Islands. Michael Moynihan spoke to him.

MARK TAINTON made 300 first-team appearances for Bristol, scoring over 3,000 points and collecting U-23 and A caps for England. He was kicking coach on England’s tour to Argentina in 1997, then went back to Bristol to coach.

A game against Munster was his first step towards his move to Ireland. “We came over to play Munster in 2002 while Alan Gaffney was managing them,” says Tainton.