While Connacht have struggled for consistency on the pitch in recent seasons, there has been a similar lack of stability on their coaching ticket.
Pete Wilkins and the province's head of rugby operations Tim Allnutt will go back to the market again for an addition to their coaching staff, after it was confirmed yesterday that attack coach Mark Sexton would be leaving at the end of the season, with Ulster expected to announce his appointment in the coming days or weeks.
There may also be a second hole to fill on the coaching ticket this summer. The Irish Independent reported yesterday that scrum coach Cullie Tucker is being lined up by Munster to come on board for next season to bolster their backroom staff, which is being reshuffled following the departure of Graham Rowntree and Andi Kyriacou in recent months.
Wilkins denied those reports yesterday, but any denial has to be taken with a pinch of salt. Almost two years ago to the day, former head coach Andy Friend suggested there wouldn’t be another exit after the previous attack coach, Mossy Lawler, had confirmed he would be moving to Munster, before forwards coach Dewald Senekal followed he and Friend out the door that summer.
It left them needing to perform major reconstructive surgery on their coaching ticket in the summer of 2023; Wilkins moved up to the head coach role, Sexton joined the senior coaching staff, while Scott Fardy and John Muldoon were hired to work with the defence and forwards.
Just over 18 months later, that group has been split up, with one, or maybe even two new bodies needed on the ticket.
A coaching turnover isn’t an issue that is exclusive to Connacht, with Munster, Ulster and Leinster all having to make high-profile hirings in recent seasons.
The circumstances around them are different though. At Munster, the recent coaching upheaval came in sudden circumstances, while Ulster are at the beginning of a rebuild after what had been a consistent coaches’ box for several years. At Leinster, the departures of Stuart Lancaster, Felipe Contepomi and Andrew Goodman have been a case of people stepping up to high profile head coaching or Test rugby jobs.
For Connacht, the frustration is that they are seeing their fellow provinces tap up their coaching talent.
Both Sexton and Lawler worked their way through from coaching in the academy to holding major roles on the senior staff, before getting snapped up to work in similar roles by other Irish teams.
If Tucker (above) does get recruited by Munster, it would be the second time in three years they would have raided their neighbours for coaching talent that had been developed by Connacht. If Leinster had poached two coaches from Thomond Park in three seasons, it would be viewed through a different prism.
"It can be frustrating," Wilkins said of the regular disruption to his coaching staff, although the Connacht head coach tried to put a positive spin on it.
"Obviously, if someone's doing a good job, you'd love to keep them, and when they're a good fit for the club, if they choose to go elsewhere or if they get offered an opportunity elsewhere, it's one of those things you have to deal with, and you have to make sure they realise how highly they're valued, make sure they believe in where you're trying to head as a program. After that, it's very much up to them on a personal decision.
"I think whether it's players or coaches, you don't want to be rebuilding too often, but I think we've got enough talent and we've got enough hard work in that coach's office that there is stability there.
"It's a tweak to the coaching group rather than a total restructure, which we have had to face in in recent years. So there's no panic in that sense, but it is what it is, and we'll deal with it."
Given the nature of the business, it’s been known between the walls at the Sportsground for several weeks that Sexton would be departing, with Wilkins confirming that they have already begun the process of drafting up a list of potential candidates, while some have already declared their interest.
With their track record, they will be confident they can identity the right candidate, but the worry will be how long that new coach sticks around.
