EDDIE O’SULLIVAN HAS oft been credited as the man that led Ireland to the water of a Grand Slam only for them to lap it up a year after he had released the reins.
It has been five years since he was moved on, in favour of Declan Kidney, from the Ireland head coach position yet the only club or country to come calling has been the US Eagles.
Despite being linked to the Munster and England jobs in the past 12 months, O’Sullivan remains out of the coaching loop. When Connacht Rugby drew up its shortlist of candidates they wanted to interview for the role, recently vacated by Eric Elwood, O’Sullivan’s name was not even on the list. Pat Lam got the Connacht job.
In his book The Outsider, former Ireland fullback Geordan Murphy criticised many of O’Sullivan’s stultifying tactics. Murphy argued that the rigidity the Cork native imposed on Ireland ultimately led to a a woeful showing at the 2007 World Cup. Speaking to TheScore.ie last year, Murphy commented:
I’m not bitter in any way. He was the coach. It’s the equivalent of having a boss in a job: if he’s unhappy with X,Y and Z that you do, then your work’s going to struggle.”
Despite beating Russia 13-6 in the pool stages of the 2011 World Cup, the highlight of O’Sullivan’s second term as US Eagles coach was the tight 22-10 loss to Ireland in the pool stages. The coach had his players primed for battle, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and his captain Todd Clever was immense in the sweeping rain.
Paul O’Connell shakes Eddie O’Sullivan’s hand in 2011. (©INPHO/Dan Sheridan)
One of the American heroes from that game was Paul Emerick. The centre intercepted a loose Gordon D’Arcy pass and raced free to dive over for a late try. He followed up the score with a salute to the American fans at the ground, and watching on TV.
With Mike Tolkin now in charge of the US Eagles, Emerick has spoken out about the restrictions O’Sullivan placed upon the team. The States have scored 20 tries, under Tolkin, in six games, compared to 41 in three years under the Irishman.
Emerick told the US Rugby website, “Since Tolks has been involved, we’ve had much more of a license to play. With Eddie O, it was very structured. We need that, but not to the point where it restricts us from our options. It’s that balance of having that structure, yet a license to play what you see and to have that freedom, that creativity.
In the last Rugby World Cup, we scored the least amount of tries. We had one win, but there were teams with zero wins who scored more tries than we did. Winning’s great, but I want to play and see some open, flowing rugby that’s creative and adventurous; risk-taking, within reason.”
The 33-year-old centre, who previously played for Ulster, is hoping to be in the selection mix for the Test match against Ireland, in Houston, on 8 June.
