Gaffney out of Ireland running

ALAN GAFFNEY has effectively ruled himself out of the running to replace Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan after confirming he will return to Leinster next season.

The Saracens director of rugby had been touted as a possible successor to O’Sullivan, who is soon expected to be dismissed by the IRFU. But his reunion with Leinster — first revealed in this newspaper — allied to his plans to continue with Saracens in a consultancy role, rules out any international ambitions.

Gaffney steered Leinster to Celtic League success in 2002 and will replace Sydney-bound David Knox as backs coach after agreeing a two-year contract. In a further boost for Leinster, it was confirmed head coach Michael Cheika and defensive mastermind Kurt McQuilkin have also signed new two-year deals.

Gaffney said he will continue to work at Saracens, who he guided to fourth place in the Guinness Premiership last season, on a part-time consultancy basis. The Australian had already announced he would step down as Saracens boss in May with former Wallaby supremo Eddie Jones taking over at Vicarage Road.

“I will maintain an involvement with Saracens next season that will see me spending time with the club at agreed periods throughout the season. But the nature of the role allowed me to explore other opportunities and so I will renew my association with Leinster,” said Gaffney.

“From a personal perspective this is a good scenario for me and everything has worked out well. I really enjoyed the lifestyle when I lived in Ireland and that was another factor in making the decision.”

However it is a different Leinster from the one he left. Since Cheika’s arrival that summer, the Leinster coach has overseen an overhaul of the playing squad along with developing the coaching and support staff structures. In the last three years the likes of Luke Fitzgerald, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney and Jonathan Sexton have graduated to the Ireland squad.

Leinster is understood to have beaten off competition for Gaffney’s signature from a host of northern and southern hemisphere clubs and, interestingly, Cheika and Gaffney’s careers will come full circle when the Saracens coach arrives in the summer as he was Cheika’s first coach in the famous Randwick club in the early 1990’s. Because Gaffney has a consultancy role with Saracens, he won’t link up with Leinster until early August.