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Over the years London Irish's academy
system has delivered us with a whole host of talented players; Marland Yarde,
Anthony Watson, Matt Garvey, Jamie Gibson and Alex Corbisero are just a few of
the names that crafted their trade with the South West London club. These are men that are
developing into world class players however frustratingly for the Exiles to a
man they all now play their rugby elsewhere. This year three individuals that
are fresh off the rugby field have been given the task of continuing to develop
this conveyor belt of talent and crucially stemming that flow out; Nick
Kennedy, Paul Hodgson and Declan Danaher. I headed to Irish’s new home,
Hazelwood, to speak to them as they embark on their new roles.
The return of a trio that have 700 club appearances for London Irish is hugely important to the future of the Club. Nick and Paul cut short their playing careers in order to take up their coaching roles, both had more miles on the clock and naturally I was intrigued to know about their decision making process;
“I had a couple of years on my deal with Harlequins and was 50/50 for a long time, on whether I wanted to continue to play or not. I’ve always wanted to go out on the top, my last game was the Semi Final of the Aviva Premiership, so not a bad one to go out on really?!”
"When I fully knew who I was going to be working alongside and everything else going on at the club it was an easy decision . However to get your head around the fact that all of a sudden you are going to cut your career short, not through injury either, is quite tough but soon as I did that I couldn’t wait and I’m glad I did now."
All three excelled on the pitch however collectively they are aware that their time on the field is in the past and they are focusing everything on establishing London Irish's Academy as one of the best in the country. Their passion and love for London Irish adds so much to their wealth of rugby knowledge and it is combined with other personal attributes that are driving the club forward as Nick highlighted;
“These two as players were the hardest working players that I’ve come across and they are exactly the same in their coaching careers, in terms of the hours that they work and the effort that they put in. Already it is their work ethic that is propelling the academy to another level.”
Few of us can forget the interview that Dec gave BT Sport when he opened up about the
hardest of times at the Club, his emotion was raw for all to see, to
use the Exiles’ phrase Dec really does bleed green, as do Nick and Paul. This
personal attachment to the club is something that they are focused on
sharing with their players and is key to
ensuring that their young talent stays at Hazelwood as Dec highlighted;
“We’ve got good players coming through and it is ensuring that they are learning and playing an enjoyable style of rugby and importantly that when they pull that jersey on it means something to them. It should mean something to you playing for London Irish and that comes from the experiences they have playing together, winning or losing and the memories they are creating as team mates together.”
Paul also shared that there is more that they wish to give their players other than just first class rugby knowledge;
"We have a responsibility to not only improve the guys as rugby players but as individuals. The three of us want to progress their rugby skills, we bang the drum hard about studying as well as playing rugby and we care about them. For me emotional attachment leads to retention and ultimately we want to keep our players.”
The trio are fully aware of the responsibility that lies on their shoulders, a Club’s academy is foundation of its future, it is the bed-rock of all successful sides and they certainly feel they have talent within their ranks as Dec explained;
“It would be unfair to start pointing people out, there are talented players coming through at every age group but whether they make that next step it is up to them and it is up to us. There isn't anything more rewarding than seeing a player execute something perfectly that you've worked on with them, sometimes for weeks, it is a great feeling."
Paul added; “You think long and hard about what you want to be as a coach, you want to use all of your experiences and everything you have picked up from the best coaches you have been exposed to, but at the end of the day it is about standing on your own two feet and bringing something to the table that is fresh and new”
All three may be fresh and new as professional coaches however there is no absolutely doubt that they are the right men to lead the future talents of London Irish. Paul, Nick and Dec's knowledge, experience and collective bond is something you simply cannot replicate, they are best friends off the field and a cohesive team on it. With one of the most prolific line out specialists of recent years, one of the best cover tackling scrum halves and the man that was totally and utterly fearless for fourteen years wearing green, London Irish’s academy is in extremely capable hands and we will all watch with great interest their and their academy’s progress over the coming months and indeed years.
The return of a trio that have 700 club appearances for London Irish is hugely important to the future of the Club. Nick and Paul cut short their playing careers in order to take up their coaching roles, both had more miles on the clock and naturally I was intrigued to know about their decision making process;
“I had a couple of years on my deal with Harlequins and was 50/50 for a long time, on whether I wanted to continue to play or not. I’ve always wanted to go out on the top, my last game was the Semi Final of the Aviva Premiership, so not a bad one to go out on really?!”
"When I fully knew who I was going to be working alongside and everything else going on at the club it was an easy decision . However to get your head around the fact that all of a sudden you are going to cut your career short, not through injury either, is quite tough but soon as I did that I couldn’t wait and I’m glad I did now."
All three excelled on the pitch however collectively they are aware that their time on the field is in the past and they are focusing everything on establishing London Irish's Academy as one of the best in the country. Their passion and love for London Irish adds so much to their wealth of rugby knowledge and it is combined with other personal attributes that are driving the club forward as Nick highlighted;
“These two as players were the hardest working players that I’ve come across and they are exactly the same in their coaching careers, in terms of the hours that they work and the effort that they put in. Already it is their work ethic that is propelling the academy to another level.”
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“We’ve got good players coming through and it is ensuring that they are learning and playing an enjoyable style of rugby and importantly that when they pull that jersey on it means something to them. It should mean something to you playing for London Irish and that comes from the experiences they have playing together, winning or losing and the memories they are creating as team mates together.”
Paul also shared that there is more that they wish to give their players other than just first class rugby knowledge;
"We have a responsibility to not only improve the guys as rugby players but as individuals. The three of us want to progress their rugby skills, we bang the drum hard about studying as well as playing rugby and we care about them. For me emotional attachment leads to retention and ultimately we want to keep our players.”
The trio are fully aware of the responsibility that lies on their shoulders, a Club’s academy is foundation of its future, it is the bed-rock of all successful sides and they certainly feel they have talent within their ranks as Dec explained;
“It would be unfair to start pointing people out, there are talented players coming through at every age group but whether they make that next step it is up to them and it is up to us. There isn't anything more rewarding than seeing a player execute something perfectly that you've worked on with them, sometimes for weeks, it is a great feeling."
Paul added; “You think long and hard about what you want to be as a coach, you want to use all of your experiences and everything you have picked up from the best coaches you have been exposed to, but at the end of the day it is about standing on your own two feet and bringing something to the table that is fresh and new”
All three may be fresh and new as professional coaches however there is no absolutely doubt that they are the right men to lead the future talents of London Irish. Paul, Nick and Dec's knowledge, experience and collective bond is something you simply cannot replicate, they are best friends off the field and a cohesive team on it. With one of the most prolific line out specialists of recent years, one of the best cover tackling scrum halves and the man that was totally and utterly fearless for fourteen years wearing green, London Irish’s academy is in extremely capable hands and we will all watch with great interest their and their academy’s progress over the coming months and indeed years.
