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Fogarty in action for Leinster in 2010. Dan Sheridan/INPHO
Backroom

Two senior coaching appointments for Leinster but still no word on the top job

Familiar faces on the field for the Blues are now part of the coaching set-up.

LEINSTER TODAY CONFIRMED two senior coaching appointments ahead of the 2015/16 season but there is still no word on who is likely to replace Matt O’Connor as head coach.

Former elite player development officer John Fogarty will take over from Marco Caputo as scrum coach while former Leinster captain Kurt McQuilkin re-joins the province as defence coach.

Confirming the news today, Leinster CEO Mick Dawson outlined the reasons for the timing of the appointments, two weeks ahead of the start of pre-season training:

“Top of the list was a need to put in place the resources to support Leo in his role as head Ccoach and indeed Dan Tobin as head of fitness for the pre-season programme that they have planned.

“With Marco Caputo no longer here with us at Leinster and Richie Murphy being with Ireland as they prepare for the World Cup, there was always going to be a need to recruit and to recruit well ahead of the season.

“We believe that we have done that and in John and Kurt we have two coaches who understand what it takes to be a Leinster player and a successful one at that. They have also impressive coaching CVs and are very well respected within Leinster.

Fogarty, who won a Heineken Cup with Leinster in 2009, played a total of 160 professional games for Munster, Connacht and Leinster and was capped by Ireland in the tour to New Zealand in 2010. He retired later in 2010 but was subsequently retained by Leinster as an elite player development officer.

He worked as forwards coach for the Leinster ‘A’ team that won two B&I Cup titles in 2013/14 and 2014/15 and is currently in Italy with the Irish Under 20s also as a forwards coach.

McQuilkin was also a defence coach under Michael Cheika and part of the backroom team that brought that first ever Heineken Cup to the province in 2009.

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