IT WAS A dull, overcast day in Dublin city centre on 22 January 2018 when Noel McNamara did his first media briefing as the new Ireland U20s coach.
More than eight years on, it’s easy to remember walking away with the impression that this was a fella who was going places.
His quietly growing reputation preceded him. Clare native McNamara had never played rugby at all, never mind professionally, but he had forged a coaching path through the schools game, winning two Leinster Schools Senior Cups with the likes of Tadhg Beirne at Clongowes.
He’d had several years in charge of the Leinster and Ireland Schools sides, the Leinster U20s, and Leinster A, as well as a season as head coach of UCD in the AIL, so he was hardly some unknown character.
But speaking that day about his journey to becoming Ireland U20s head coach, McNamara made a striking impression with his confident, precise messages.
He was totally aware that he didn’t have the profile of some of the people he would have to compete with for jobs as he pursued his ambition of being a professional coach, which meant turning away from a productive, stable teaching career, as well as the family farm.
Even some of his loved ones questioned the wisdom, but McNamara knew exactly what he wanted.
“I think you have got to work hard no matter what,” said McNamara, who was only 36 at the time.
“If you have a strong playing career behind you, it definitely puts you in a strong position to get in the door. But the reality is that very quickly you realise that you have got to deliver, and I think it was no different for me.
“I feel like I’ve worked hard, but the reality is I loved what I’ve done and enjoyed every second of it. It doesn’t feel like work.”
McNamara during his time as Leinster academy boss. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
The hard work has paid off for McNamara, although his competitiveness and ambition mean he won’t fall into any temptation to think that he has ‘made it.’
His desire to always grow led to a four-month stint in New Zealand with North Harbour in late 2018, allowing him to see a different approach to the game.
In 2021, keen to kick things on to full-time professional level, McNamara signed for the Sharks in South Africa, spending two years in charge of their attack under Sean Everitt and John Plumtree.
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McNamara has always stressed his gratitude to IRFU performance director David Nucifora for facilitating those moves to New Zealand and South Africa, but the reality is that they happened because McNamara wasn’t happy to sit still in his role as Leinster’s academy manager and Ireland U20 coach.
He was more than willing to get out of the Irish system, bringing his wife and three young girls with him.
McNamara is now a Champions Cup winner and a key part of the Bordeaux set-up aiming to earn their second trophy when they face Leinster in Bilbao on Saturday. Head coach Yannick Bru linked up with the Sharks as a consultant before taking on the Bordeaux job. The Irishman in charge of the Sharks’ attack left a big impression on him.
McNamara recently confirmed that he has extended his contract as Bordeaux’s attack coach through until the summer of 2029. That ended any speculation and hope that McNamara could be lured back to Irish rugby sooner rather than later.
He is onto a very good thing with Union Bordeaux Bègles (UBB). Most importantly, his family are very happy in France. They live in the picturesque village of Gradignan, 30 minutes outside the city.
Yet taking children away from extended family and friends, even when it’s not on the other side of the world, is a very difficult thing to do. McNamara’s wife, Sinead, had to give up her job with RTÉ to support his dream. She has since set up her own public relations agency.
The rugby match has been ideal. UBB are a well-run club with a clear attacking identity that fits well with how McNamara has always viewed the game.
Noel McNamara with his three daughters, Aarya, Portia, and Iseult. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“Decisions are a huge thing for me,” said McNamara in 2018 as he discussed his approach to the Ireland U20s gig.
“I firmly believe the players have to be able to adapt on the pitch, they have to be able to adapt to the pictures presented to them, and they have to understand how to adapt and why they’re adapting.
“That’s a core part of my philosophy in coaching. The players are the ones who cross the white line on Friday night and you’ve got to have them in a position where they can make decisions.”
That philosophy still rings true when you watch Bordeaux attack. They have sensational individual attacking skills and athleticism, with McNamara helping to guide them in the right direction, but clearly not overburdening them with prescriptive plans.
McNamara has always had a creative streak for designing attacking plays – watch out particularly for UBB’s scrum strikes on Saturday – but even in those rehearsed moves, he gives the players freedom to choose from a few different options.
The vast majority of the current Leinster squad know all about McNamara’s attributes.
As far back as 2014, he was head coaching an Ireland U18 side that included Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Max Deegan, Jordan Larmour, Jimmy O’Brien, and Will Connors.
Tommy O’Brien was McNamara’s Ireland U20s captain in 2018, while Caelan Doris was skipper for that year’s Junior World Championship, when Dan Sheehan was also involved.
In 2019, McNamara’s Ireland won the Grand Slam with Harry Byrne shining at out-half and Thomas Clarkson impressing at tighthead. They were on track for another Grand Slam the following year, with Joe McCarthy and Brian Deeny involved, until the pandemic struck.
McNamara has worked with almost all the Leinster players at some point, thanks to roles with the province’s U18, U19 and U20 sides.
Ask those players about the key influences in their progress to professional rugby, and several of them will cite McNamara. It is his blend of technical and tactical qualities with a tough edge that left an impression on most of them.
McNamara is a positive, affable character, but he knows that professional sport requires constructive, blunt feedback for players.
McNamara with the Ireland U18s in 2014. Szymon Gruchalski / www.eurorugby2014.pl/INPHO
Szymon Gruchalski / www.eurorugby2014.pl/INPHO / www.eurorugby2014.pl/INPHO
When he first pitched up in Bordeaux, their superstar-laden players didn’t know much about him. Having no playing pedigree can be tough when trying to win players over, but McNamara quickly did so. Crucially, he learned French swiftly. It’s non-negotiable in French rugby if you want players to genuinely respect you.
It wasn’t long before McNamara was able to converse well in French and these days, he’s even comfortable doing media briefings in his adopted language.
But as important in winning UBB’s squad over was the fact that McNamara simply knew his stuff and was far from a pushover.
As would be obvious from his background in education, McNamara is the kind of person who sees life as one continuous learning experience. He is steadfast in his beliefs, but not ignorant of different perspectives. Hence, his willingness to leave Ireland.
That’s also why he has learned from those he has worked under, including big names like Stuart Lancaster and Joe Schmidt, but it was his first mentor, the late PJ Smyth, who probably made the most important impression of all.
Smyth was McNamara’s lecturer in psychology and skill acquisition when he studied PE at the University of Limerick (UL). Smyth oversaw McNamara’s final-year project, which was on variable practice in penalty kicks in soccer, his first sporting love.
McNamara had always enjoyed watching rugby, but Smyth’s pure passion for rugby rubbed off on him in those years at UL from 2001 to 2005.
“PJ had a different perspective on the game,” said McNamara in 2018. “Back in the 90s, PJ was talking about props that should be able to pass like a scrum-half. He was talking about a 15-man game before I heard anyone else talk about it.
“I suppose that would have been my primary introduction into how you think about it.”
Smyth’s encouragement soon had McNamara out coaching the U14 team in Glenstal Abbey School, and the rest is… well, actually, there is plenty more of this journey still ahead.
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Bordeaux's McNamara has always been a fella who was going places
IT WAS A dull, overcast day in Dublin city centre on 22 January 2018 when Noel McNamara did his first media briefing as the new Ireland U20s coach.
More than eight years on, it’s easy to remember walking away with the impression that this was a fella who was going places.
His quietly growing reputation preceded him. Clare native McNamara had never played rugby at all, never mind professionally, but he had forged a coaching path through the schools game, winning two Leinster Schools Senior Cups with the likes of Tadhg Beirne at Clongowes.
He’d had several years in charge of the Leinster and Ireland Schools sides, the Leinster U20s, and Leinster A, as well as a season as head coach of UCD in the AIL, so he was hardly some unknown character.
But speaking that day about his journey to becoming Ireland U20s head coach, McNamara made a striking impression with his confident, precise messages.
He was totally aware that he didn’t have the profile of some of the people he would have to compete with for jobs as he pursued his ambition of being a professional coach, which meant turning away from a productive, stable teaching career, as well as the family farm.
Even some of his loved ones questioned the wisdom, but McNamara knew exactly what he wanted.
“I think you have got to work hard no matter what,” said McNamara, who was only 36 at the time.
“If you have a strong playing career behind you, it definitely puts you in a strong position to get in the door. But the reality is that very quickly you realise that you have got to deliver, and I think it was no different for me.
“I feel like I’ve worked hard, but the reality is I loved what I’ve done and enjoyed every second of it. It doesn’t feel like work.”
The hard work has paid off for McNamara, although his competitiveness and ambition mean he won’t fall into any temptation to think that he has ‘made it.’
His desire to always grow led to a four-month stint in New Zealand with North Harbour in late 2018, allowing him to see a different approach to the game.
In 2021, keen to kick things on to full-time professional level, McNamara signed for the Sharks in South Africa, spending two years in charge of their attack under Sean Everitt and John Plumtree.
McNamara has always stressed his gratitude to IRFU performance director David Nucifora for facilitating those moves to New Zealand and South Africa, but the reality is that they happened because McNamara wasn’t happy to sit still in his role as Leinster’s academy manager and Ireland U20 coach.
He was more than willing to get out of the Irish system, bringing his wife and three young girls with him.
McNamara is now a Champions Cup winner and a key part of the Bordeaux set-up aiming to earn their second trophy when they face Leinster in Bilbao on Saturday. Head coach Yannick Bru linked up with the Sharks as a consultant before taking on the Bordeaux job. The Irishman in charge of the Sharks’ attack left a big impression on him.
McNamara recently confirmed that he has extended his contract as Bordeaux’s attack coach through until the summer of 2029. That ended any speculation and hope that McNamara could be lured back to Irish rugby sooner rather than later.
He is onto a very good thing with Union Bordeaux Bègles (UBB). Most importantly, his family are very happy in France. They live in the picturesque village of Gradignan, 30 minutes outside the city.
Yet taking children away from extended family and friends, even when it’s not on the other side of the world, is a very difficult thing to do. McNamara’s wife, Sinead, had to give up her job with RTÉ to support his dream. She has since set up her own public relations agency.
The rugby match has been ideal. UBB are a well-run club with a clear attacking identity that fits well with how McNamara has always viewed the game.
“Decisions are a huge thing for me,” said McNamara in 2018 as he discussed his approach to the Ireland U20s gig.
“I firmly believe the players have to be able to adapt on the pitch, they have to be able to adapt to the pictures presented to them, and they have to understand how to adapt and why they’re adapting.
“That’s a core part of my philosophy in coaching. The players are the ones who cross the white line on Friday night and you’ve got to have them in a position where they can make decisions.”
That philosophy still rings true when you watch Bordeaux attack. They have sensational individual attacking skills and athleticism, with McNamara helping to guide them in the right direction, but clearly not overburdening them with prescriptive plans.
McNamara has always had a creative streak for designing attacking plays – watch out particularly for UBB’s scrum strikes on Saturday – but even in those rehearsed moves, he gives the players freedom to choose from a few different options.
The vast majority of the current Leinster squad know all about McNamara’s attributes.
As far back as 2014, he was head coaching an Ireland U18 side that included Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Max Deegan, Jordan Larmour, Jimmy O’Brien, and Will Connors.
Tommy O’Brien was McNamara’s Ireland U20s captain in 2018, while Caelan Doris was skipper for that year’s Junior World Championship, when Dan Sheehan was also involved.
In 2019, McNamara’s Ireland won the Grand Slam with Harry Byrne shining at out-half and Thomas Clarkson impressing at tighthead. They were on track for another Grand Slam the following year, with Joe McCarthy and Brian Deeny involved, until the pandemic struck.
McNamara has worked with almost all the Leinster players at some point, thanks to roles with the province’s U18, U19 and U20 sides.
Ask those players about the key influences in their progress to professional rugby, and several of them will cite McNamara. It is his blend of technical and tactical qualities with a tough edge that left an impression on most of them.
McNamara is a positive, affable character, but he knows that professional sport requires constructive, blunt feedback for players.
When he first pitched up in Bordeaux, their superstar-laden players didn’t know much about him. Having no playing pedigree can be tough when trying to win players over, but McNamara quickly did so. Crucially, he learned French swiftly. It’s non-negotiable in French rugby if you want players to genuinely respect you.
It wasn’t long before McNamara was able to converse well in French and these days, he’s even comfortable doing media briefings in his adopted language.
But as important in winning UBB’s squad over was the fact that McNamara simply knew his stuff and was far from a pushover.
As would be obvious from his background in education, McNamara is the kind of person who sees life as one continuous learning experience. He is steadfast in his beliefs, but not ignorant of different perspectives. Hence, his willingness to leave Ireland.
That’s also why he has learned from those he has worked under, including big names like Stuart Lancaster and Joe Schmidt, but it was his first mentor, the late PJ Smyth, who probably made the most important impression of all.
Smyth was McNamara’s lecturer in psychology and skill acquisition when he studied PE at the University of Limerick (UL). Smyth oversaw McNamara’s final-year project, which was on variable practice in penalty kicks in soccer, his first sporting love.
McNamara had always enjoyed watching rugby, but Smyth’s pure passion for rugby rubbed off on him in those years at UL from 2001 to 2005.
“PJ had a different perspective on the game,” said McNamara in 2018. “Back in the 90s, PJ was talking about props that should be able to pass like a scrum-half. He was talking about a 15-man game before I heard anyone else talk about it.
“I suppose that would have been my primary introduction into how you think about it.”
Smyth’s encouragement soon had McNamara out coaching the U14 team in Glenstal Abbey School, and the rest is… well, actually, there is plenty more of this journey still ahead.
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Bordeaux Clare Coaching John Wooden Journey Leinster On the rise UBB