{"id":762030,"date":"2026-06-26T17:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T17:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/762030\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T17:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T17:50:14","slug":"former-ireland-womens-rugby-coach-philip-doyle-dies-aged-61-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/762030\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Ireland women\u2019s rugby coach Philip Doyle dies aged 61 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Ireland women\u2019s rugby<\/a> coach Philip \u201cGoose\u201d Doyle has died aged 61. Doyle coached the Irish team to a Six Nations Championship Grand Slam in 2013 and also masterminded a World Cup pool stage win over the New Zealand Black Ferns at Marcoussis in 2014.<\/p>\n

Blackrock College RFC confirmed the news with a statement on their website. Doyle had two spells in charge of the Ireland women\u2019s team, the first from 2003 to 2006 before taking up the reins again in 2010. Three years later, he watched as the team claimed a Grand Slam with a 6-3 win over Italy in Milan.<\/p>\n

Ireland reached the semi-finals of the World Cup the following season \u2013 they had finished third in the Six Nations \u2013 with a 17-14 win over New Zealand. Ali Miller and Heather O\u2019Brien scored tries with Niamh Briggs adding seven points from placed balls. Doyle stepped down as head coach following the tournament. <\/p>\n

He agreed a contract to coach Scotland in 2019 but a year later resigned to shield himself during the Covid-19<\/a> pandemic. <\/p>\n

The Blackrock statement read: \u201cGoose stands alone as the most influential coach in the history of women\u2019s rugby, and Blackrock was deeply privileged to call him one of our own. His coaching and playing journey began and ended with Blackrock. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe played on numerous teams within the club before turning his hand to coaching, where he gave so generously of his time, knowledge and passion, helping shape generations of players and leaving a legacy that will live in our club forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis achievements at international level were extraordinary. Goose coached the Ireland women\u2019s national team in two separate spells, first from 2003 to 2006, and again during Ireland\u2019s most successful period in the 2010s. <\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Ireland women\u2019s rugby coach Philip Doyle (left). Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2013, he guided Ireland to a historic women\u2019s Six Nations Grand Slam, one of the great milestones in Irish rugby. A year later, at the 2014 women\u2019s Rugby World Cup, he led Ireland to a famous victory over New Zealand\u2019s Black Ferns, the first win by any Irish national side over New Zealand as Ireland reached the World Cup semi-finals and finished fourth.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoose also brought his experience and leadership to Leinster women, Ulster women, and later to the Scotland women\u2019s national team. Across every role, he was recognised not only for his rugby knowledge, but for his ability to inspire belief, build teams, and bring the best out of players.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Blackrock, however, Goose was far more than a list of achievements. He was a mentor, a friend, a storyteller, and a constant source of encouragement. He cared deeply about the people he coached. He gave players confidence, challenged them to be better, and reminded everyone around him why rugby is such a special game. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of everyone at Blackrock College RFC, we extend our deepest sympathies to Goose\u2019s wife Nicola, daughter Alix, sons Mark and Ross, mother Anne, siblings Stephen, Jeremy, Andrew and Jillian, his grandson Adam, son-in-law David (Naas), the wider Doyle\/Elliott families, his many friends, former and current players, fellow coaches, and all those whose lives he touched through rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ar dheis D\u00e9 go raibh a anam.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland to face US and Japan in first WXV games before history-making Tests in Cape TownOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Ireland women\u2019s rugby coach Philip \u201cGoose\u201d Doyle has died aged 61. Doyle coached the Irish team to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,41549,760,85],"class_list":["post-762030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ireland-womens-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}