Easterby gets new role at Scarlets

Ireland and Scarlets flanker Simon Easterby has been forced to retire after failing to recover from a knee injury suffered in December.

Easterby will take over as defence coach and will be joined on the Scarlets management team by Mark Jones, who takes over as skills coach after he was also forced to retire with a knee injury he suffered on international duty last November.

Easterby, the former Ireland flanker, had moved into the role of player-coach last summer and never fully recovered from a knee injury suffered in December.

The 30-year-old Jones will now take on the role after medics confirmed his playing days had been ended by a third major knee injury.

Jones spent two years on the sidelines between 2003 and 2005 after requiring reconstructive surgery on both knees – but he returned to top-class rugby and helped Wales win the 2008 Grand Slam.

The two former Scarlets captains will join newly-appointed forwards coach Robin McBryde in working under director of rugby Nigel Davies.

Easterby joined the Scarlets in 1999 and he captained the team for five seasons until Jones took over last season.

The 35-year-old is Ireland’s most capped flanker with 65 Test appearances, plus two for the British and Irish Lions against New Zealand in 2005.

Easterby will take charge of the Scarlets defence, having helped to drill the Scarlets forwards last season.

“Of course I’ll miss the buzz from being on the pitch, but there’s fresh motivation for me now and being a full-time coach brings new pressures and with it a new level of responsibility,” said Easterby.

“I’ve had lots of individual challenges in my life and this is a new one.

“I learnt a lot last season being a player/coach but it’s not easy to have a foot in both camps. I am now looking forward to concentrating on my coaching career.

“My aim is to prepare and push players to be the very best they can be. And for me it will be using the same work ethic and drive I’ve had as a player.”

“It is a double-edged announcement for me and it has taken some time to consider and I accept that I am hanging up my boots finally,” said Jones, who won the last of his 47 Test caps against the United States in 2009.

“Ultimately the decision has been made for me and I have to retire from the game. It does feel as though it has come a little prematurely and I was hitting some decent form last season before the injury.

“It has been a great honour and privilege to play for my country and to be such a big part of this great club for many years, and I will look back and feel hugely proud of what I’ve achieved and experienced in rugby across the world.

“I am really excited about the challenges ahead and what I have to offer the Scarlets now as a new coach within the set-up.”