Lam the choice now as Holley rejects Connacht

THE appointment of Eric Elwood’s successor as Connacht’s Head Coach for next season has hit choppy waters after former Ospreys Head Coach Sean Holley confirmed this week he had turned the position down.

Already, there had been controversy when former Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan, who guided the country to three Triple Crowns and lives in Moylough, was even denied an interview for the position although, it is understood, he did hold preliminary talks with the province.

Holley told BBC Wales this week he had been offered the role of Head Coach at Connacht but that the timing and his current personal circumstances influenced his decision not to head to the Sportsground. Connacht supporters will be asking, though, why he then applied for the position?

Another coach believed to be on the shortlist who has taken himself out of the running is former Wasps and England out-half Alex King, who has been serving as assistant coach at Clermont Auvergne for the last five years but has now committed to Northampton from next Summer on.

Despite these setbacks, Connacht Rugby CEO Tom Sears has indicated Elwood’s successor will be announced by the end of January – if not sooner. However, he would not confirm reports that former Auckland Blues Head Coach Pat Lam is now favoured for the role, explaining that he could not comment on the process until the appointment was “signed, sealed and delivered”.

He would also not confirm who had made the shortlist but said all of the candidates had been interviewed by the four-man panel of CEO Sears, Conor McGuinness and Steve Cunningham of the Connacht Professional Games Board, and IRFU Director of Rugby, Eddie Wigglesworth.

“As of yet, nothing is finalised but we would hope to make an announcement by the end of January, if not sooner,” reiterated Sears, who had previously confirmed that a dozen coaches with experience of managing international teams at rugby World Cups had applied for the position. According to media reports over the weekend, former Samoan and All-Blacks forward Lam is now rergarded as the front-runner for the vacancy.

In addition to being capped for New Zealand (1) and Samoa (34), Lam played his club rugby with Crusaders and Auckland before moving to Newcastle Falcons and later Northampton Saints, with whom he won a Heineken Cup in the 1999/2000 season.

The 44-year-old has had an equally varied coaching career. He was assistant coach to Scotland in the 2003 World Cup before being appointed as Head Coach of Auckland’s provincial side in 2004. In his four years there, he guided them to a second Air New Zealand Cup and to the Ranfurly Shield. Indeed, with the Blues – who Lam would later coach – also winning the Super Rugby title in this period, it was the first time a region held all three crowns.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.