IRISH DIRECTOR OF rugby Bernard Jackman has parted ways with Top 14 outfit Grenoble with immediate effect.
Grenoble currently sit second from bottom in the French Top 14 with six games to go, although Jackman had received a vote of confidence from the club’s president, Eric Pilaud, just weeks ago.
With Racing 92 and Stade Français merging next season, it now looks like the 13th-place club in the Top 14 will stay up this season.
However, the relationship between club and director of rugby has deteriorated rapidly and Jackman has opted to leave Grenoble immediately rather than wait until the end of the season to be let go.
French newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré first broke the news this morning, and sources in France have confirmed to The42 that Jackman has left Grenoble. The club are set to hold a press conference this afternoon to officially confirm the news.
Le Dauphiné Libéré says Jackman’s assistant coaches, Mike Pendergast and Aaron Dundon, will take charge of Grenoble until the end of the season.
Jackman was appointed director of rugby last year following the departure of Fabrice Landreau, having first worked with the club on a consultancy basis in 2011, before he joined permanently in 2012.
Jackman earned nine Ireland caps during a playing career that also saw him win a Heineken Cup and Celtic League with native province Leinster.
The Tullow man has previously coached Newbridge RFC, Coolmine RFC, Clontarf FC and St. Michael’s College.
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