‘I’ve been likened to Atilla the Hun’

EDDIE O’SULLIVAN admitted last night that he got Ireland’s World Cup preparations wrong — but insisted he had been vindicated in his role as Irish coach by the Genesis Report.

O’Sullivan was speaking publicly for the first time since the commissioning of the expert report into Ireland’s disastrous World Cup in France, and accepted: “I would do things differently if I had it to do all over again. Chiefly, I would start our preparation much earlier. I would shorten the amount of time we spent on fitness and play more matches. What killed us was not being match ready. There was a chance of playing South Africa but that went south and we were left with the games against Scotland and Italy.”

O’Sullivan explained: “I was trying to protect the players from injury but I got the balance wrong, it was my decision and the responsibility rests with me. My plan at the World Cup was to play my strongest team against Namibia and then mix it up against Georgia. Trouble was we played poorly against Namibia and then it was hard to change given the quality of the teams in the pool.”

The IRFU’s Genesis report outlines a series of operational and technical recommendations, which O’Sullivan says he is more than happy to take on board.

“I am happy to run with the Genesis proposals. The situation about the manager changed two and a half years ago when Brian O’Brien retired. Gerard Carmody has filled the position but in a logistics role and now it’s felt wise to go back to the ‘Briano’ days and we’ll get a good guy in there. That’ll be fine with me.

“Bringing in a backs coach will also help to take some of the pressure off me. There’s a whole lot more to the job than the half hour on the pitch although I’ve always been a backs coach and this doesn’t mean that I won’t be working in this area again.

“(Also) we will have a guy in a psychological role. It will be good to have somebody standing back and seeing how the dynamics are working. If all of this makes for a better Irish team, of course I’ll go along with that. You can’t do it all yourself.”

As the Irish side stumbled from one World Cup mishap to the next, the rumour machine clicked into top gear and eventually ran completely out of control. The rumours were a source of upset to O’Sullivan, especially as he asserts they were completely untrue.

“I am adamant that the rumours circulating about us were completely unfounded,” he said. “The stuff about players leaving the camp or not getting on with each other and so on was completely untrue and they will tell you that. While there’s nothing you can do about these rumours, I’m pleased that the report has proved them to be unfounded. Of course we didn’t perform to the standard we wanted but that wasn’t caused by the squad not pulling together.”

So, could it have been a case of the players not getting on with the coach, that they found him aloof and, as some alleged, something of a control freak?

“I know I have the reputation for not being the warmest individual and that I can be cold and distant,” he acknowledged. “I’ve been likened to Attila the Hun and that’s something I’ve had to live with. I can’t change that persona. I am very direct but very fair. I don’t fluff about. That’s my way, my style. I don’t shout and jump up and down and of course I spoke with all the players. It’s not an easy environment when things are not going well but I assure you again that nothing untoward went on at the World Cup.

“I wouldn’t say I was hurt by all the criticism. You have to expect that kind of thing when you’re not getting the right results and the other side of that is you also get the credit when things are going in your favour. It can be a lonely job at times when nasty and ugly things are said about you but I don’t worry about myself at all. It’s my kids I feel for in that situation.”

The Irish coach said he was now avidly looking forward to leading his country into the Six Nations Championship in February and March.