Source: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Ireland – A Last Eddy

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Anthony Eddy, Ireland’s Director of Sevens and Women’s Rugby, has announced his decision to resign his position forthwith. It comes some three months after it might have done.

The reasons he offers are the usual ones: missing home (Australia), missing family. Why then did he stay for eight years? Perhaps the imminent publication of a review into Ireland’s wellbeing may have been a more pressing reason.

He came to post in 2014, the year of Ireland’s greatest triumphs, a defeat of the all-conquering Black Ferns and a cherished place in the semi-finals of the World Cup. Thanks to the head coach and a fine set of players Ireland had gained a remarkable Grand Slam the year before and were to be 6N champions again in 2015.

The path has seemed to lead downhill ever since. The home RWC of 2017 became an onfield embarrassment and Ireland’s fortunes in the 6N deteriorated markedly. Critics pointed to the dismantling of structures vital for rugby’s prosperity, the lack of proper pathways to ensure future test players are given the support they need.

An action plan of 2018 set out targets, none of which has been achieved. Relations between the national squad and the IRFU have become increasingly fraught. Ireland’s loss to Scotland in the decisive contest of the RWC qualifiers last September was a final hammer blow.

Trouble and Strife

It was in the middle of December that the revolution started. A distinguished list of 62 present and past Irish internationals penned a letter to the government saying they had lost ‘all trust and confidence in the IRFU’. The IRFU initially refuted all allegations of neglect. The matter was taken up by the two ministers charged with sporting matters. A review was ordered. We will soon discover its content. Eddy had issued a statement that seemed to lay the blame for Ireland’s failure to win a place at the 2022 RWC at the feet of the players, implying that they were given facilities the equal of, if not even better than most other nations’.

This inflamed tempers.

The Balance of Power

Eddy’s remit, in charge of 7s and women’s rugby, was yet another composite title hard to fathom for ordinary rugby folk. Critics claimed he favoured the 7s game over 15s. Ireland women’s 7s squad enjoyed contracts, unlike their 15s sisters. The IRFU again refuted the charges. But steering three ships at the same time cannot be an easy task. It needs an experienced seaman to keep his hand steady on one tiller.

His immediate boss was David Nucifora, the IRFU Performance Director. He, another Australian, had only good words to say about his fellow-countryman.

We await the details of the review with considerable interest. It will be only the first of several that are due for publication. Wales and New Zealand to follow.