Leinster's Goodman to join Irish coaching ticket
STEPPING UP: Leinster assistant coach Andrew Goodman. Pic: ©INPHO/Nick Elliott
Leinster attack coach Andrew Goodman is set to become Ireland backs coach next season, replacing outgoing assistant Mike Catt for the defending Six Nations champions.
The IRFU announced Goodman’s appointment on Thursday, a week after revealing that Catt would end his time on Andy Farrell’s staff following next summer’s tour to South Africa and a two-Test series against the world champion Springboks.
Goodman, 41, has agreed a three-year contract to run until 2027, when the next World Cup will be staged in Australia.
The New Zealander is currently in his second season with Leinster, whom he played for as a fly-half and centre from 2012-14, winning the Celtic League and European Challenge Cup under Joe Schmidt.
His coaching career has taken him from New Zealand’s NPC competition with Tasman Mako to the Crusaders, where he was a part of Scott Robertson’s Super Rugby-winning staff in 2022 before joining Leo Cullen’s backroom last summer.
Goodman has also coached against Ireland as part of Samoa’s coaching ticket for this year’s World Cup, facing Farrell’s team in a pre-tournament warm-up Test in Bayonne in August.
“This has obviously been a very difficult decision to make in one way because I have loved coming back to Leinster,” Goodman said in an IRFU statement announcing his appointment.
“A team that I loved playing with and a team that I love coaching. I’d like to thank Leo for the opportunity to come back and to make Dublin our family home, and I’d like to thank the players, the coaches, the staff and everyone based in UCD, for the welcome they have given myself, Nina and the kids.
“The opportunity to test yourself at the very highest level is something that I have loved doing with Samoa in the last few years and now this challenge has come up with Ireland and it’s one that I am hugely excited about.
“It’s a chance to work with one of the best teams in the world and to work with some of the best coaches and players in the world and it was one that I couldn’t turn down. I look forward to getting stuck into that when the time is right and building on the great work that Andy Farrell and the other coaches have done to now, but until then, I want to continue doing my best for this club and this group of players and the supporters that we have.”
IRFU Performance Director David Nucifora had promised last week that an appointment was close to being made pending the finalising of some details and on Thursday he said: “It was clear from the recruitment process that Andrew was a high-calibre candidate and we are delighted that he will continue his journey in Irish rugby over the coming years.
“He brings a wealth of experience of the Irish and international systems and has packed a significant amount into a relatively young coaching career. His familiarity with the existing system here, coupled with his knowledge of the global game, will greatly add to our environment.”
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