Former Tigers duo give boss thumbs up

Matt O’Connor will join Leinster this summer as Joe Schmidt’s successor having received the seal of approval from the province’s former Leicester Tigers Shane Jennings and Leo Cullen, team manager Guy Easterby has revealed.

Australian O’Connor will leave Welford Road, where he has coached since 2008, having not just impressed Leinster’s interview panel but also the European champions’ senior players, including Cullen and Jennings. They had used their contacts in Leicester, including fellow Irishman Geordan Murphy to corroborate the good vibes O’Connor had given during his interview and a visit to Leinster’s UCD training base last week. “They’re good insiders for us and I think we would have been crazy not to use some of their contacts in Leicester,” Easterby said yesterday, “but again I think a lot of it was done.

“We met with Matt and we were happy with what we saw and then those sort of phone calls could be made just for that last half to make sure that what you’re hearing is across the board and they obviously got some great feedback for us. The players just had a sit-down with Matt and a chat. Because they want the place to continue moving forward as does Matt. It was a two-way conversation about how that was going to continue and they both came out of those conversations in a positive frame of mind.”