{"id":540282,"date":"2026-07-09T02:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T02:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/540282\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T02:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T02:47:10","slug":"ronan-ogara-in-the-frame-to-replace-leo-cullen-at-leinster-says-david-humphreys-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/540282\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronan O\u2019Gara in the frame to replace Leo Cullen at Leinster, says David Humphreys \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The IRFU<\/a> performance director David Humphreys<\/a> has confirmed that his one-time rival for the Ireland<\/a> number 10 jersey, Ronan O\u2019Gara<\/a>, is one of the candidates in the frame to succeed Leo Cullen<\/a> when he steps down as Leinster<\/a> head coach at the end of next season.<\/p>\n

Humphreys also revealed he met the La Rochelle head coach prior to their away Challenge Cup quarter-final in April, which the French side lost 41-24.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met Rog two or three months ago when La Rochelle were in Belfast, and we talked about where his coaching ambitions were. He\u2019s done what so many good coaches have done \u2013 he has left Ireland, he has got experience throughout the world, and he\u2019s been successful. So of course I would say he\u2019ll be a candidate for every job that comes up in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a fortunate position that we have got some really, really good Irish coaches and somebody coming into the Irish system, because it is slightly unique, it\u2019s definitely a positive in where the recruitment goes. But there will be a long list of very well-qualified coaches, of which I would assume Rog will be one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another who might be in the conversation is Stuart Lancaster<\/a>, although Humphreys suggested the former Leinster senior coach may remain at Connacht<\/a> beyond his current two-year deal to the end of next season. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought Stuart into Connacht for a very good reason. He\u2019s one of the best coaches around, and you\u2019ve seen yourself the impact that he\u2019s made in Connacht and I think that there\u2019s huge potential there.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s excited by what he\u2019s done. He has enjoyed bringing a lot of these young players through, and now it\u2019s about where he can take Connacht over the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SamSam Illo and head coach Stuart Lancaster after Connacht’s URC win over the Stormers in Cape Town in April. Photograph: EJ Langer\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi might be another contender. While the appointment would ideally be announced as soon as possible, Humphreys added: \u201cWe know it\u2019s going to be somewhat difficult with the World Cup and trying to find someone that may or may not be in international rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also stressed: \u201cHe (Cullen) has had an unbelievable career and he will definitely be missed, and the legacy that he leaves, he will leave big shoes to fill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leinster will lead the recruitment process, and Humphreys has been in discussions with the province\u2019s chief executive Shane Nolan and chief operating officer Guy Easterby. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut because it is an IRFU contract, the IRFU will be involved towards the latter stages of that appointment,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

After Munster and Roger Randle mutually agreed not to proceed with his appointment as attack coach<\/a> earlier this year, Humphreys was reluctant to go into detail about the IRFU\u2019s role in the matter pending an external review. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think, coming out of that, it will be very clear that there were definitely things we could have done better and things we could have done differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere may be some recommendations that are made that will be implemented in how we see some of the higher profile recruitment, but we do not want to be involved in every provincial decision. We want to give them the flexibility to make decisions that are right for Munster.\u201d <\/p>\n

Humphreys added that whether Randle had been paid any compensation was \u201cconfidential\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Reflecting on \u201ca hugely difficult number of months for Munster for a couple of reasons\u201d, he said the appointment of Jared Payne as attack coach and Jimmy Duffy as forwards coach \u201cwill definitely strengthen them from where they\u2019ve been this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

An James Lowe\u2019s departure from Leinster, Humphreys said while he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d to see the 34-year-old leave the Irish system, Humphreys highlighted the winger had been on a provincial contract. <\/p>\n

\"JamesJames Lowe after Leinster’s URC quarter-final win over the Lions at the Aviva Stadium in May. Photograph: Ben Brady\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cHe has never been on a national contract, and the negotiations to extend his current contract were with Leinster.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IRFU had offered support through a PONI (Player Of National Interest) payment, although this option would have been performance-related. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut details beyond that are inappropriate, in the same way we have 40-odd players leaving the Irish system this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leinster have 11 of the 14 players on central contracts, and in a bid to address the gulf between them and the other provinces, the increase in funding (from 30 per cent to 40 per cent) has generated extra spending in the region of \u20ac650,000. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now allocating that (funding) to the three provinces, into schools in Munster and Ulster, and into the club and the wider academy pathway in Connacht,\u201d said Humphreys.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe the investment in the schools, through the director of rugby schools programme, is a starting point,\u201d he added. \u201cThe detail of that will be announced towards the end of the summer when we\u2019ve got all the paperwork and documentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest challenge facing the IRFU is aligning all four provinces and the various strands in Irish rugby toward ensuing the success of their \u201cnumber one priority\u201d, the men\u2019s international team. <\/p>\n

\u201cPlus, we are absolutely committed to accelerating the women\u2019s game as part of a strategic plan. Ultimately our Irish women\u2019s team is getting better year-on-year,\u201d said Humphreys, noting the record 31,294 crowd at the Aviva Stadium for Ireland\u2019s game against Scotland game during this year\u2019s Women\u2019s Six Nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want the game thriving across all aspects; schools, clubs, men\u2019s, women\u2019s. That\u2019s what I enjoy about the role, it\u2019s so wide. There\u2019s so many aspects to it, but it\u2019s trying to make sure the levers we\u2019re pulling are supporting all of them and making sure they\u2019re all improving without damaging anywhere along the line. That\u2019s the balance in the world that we\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The IRFU performance director David Humphreys has confirmed that his one-time rival for the Ireland number 10 jersey,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[42553,28454,74681,87996,61,60,1449,43964,11287,28577,112,28460],"class_list":["post-540282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ronan-ogara","tag-connacht-rugby","tag-david-humphreys","tag-felipe-contepomi","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ireland-rugby","tag-james-lowe","tag-leinster-rugby","tag-leo-cullen","tag-sports","tag-stuart-lancaster"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}