Four in frame for manager’s job

IRELAND are hoping to have a new team manager in place before the start of the RBS 6 Nations Championship next month but are still assessing the candidates to succeed Paul McNaughton.

It is believed the IRFU have interviewed four potentials as a replacement for McNaughton, who stepped down from the role following the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, three years after becoming Declan Kidney’s first appointment to the then new head coach’s backroom staff.

With less than four weeks until Ireland get their 2012 Six Nations campaign under way against Wales at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, February 5, the IRFU understandably want their new team manager in place ahead of the championship but it is understood they are determined not to rush the appointment and intend to ensure they get the right person for the role to see them through the next World Cup cycle to England 2015 or at the very least to the end of the 2012-13 season when Kidney and his coaches’ current contracts expire.