Category Sports News

Summer Test: Georgia v Ireland

Date: Saturday, 5 July Kick-off: 18:00 BST Venue: Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi

Paul O’Connell has always been strikingly honest about his coaching career.

As a player, he was revered and feared, his iconic ‘manic aggression’ speech in the bowels of Croke Park ensured the latter.

Over the past eight years, the former lock has been coaching at various levels after his injury-enforced retirement in February 2016.

After a distinguished playing career that yielded three Six Nations titles with Ireland and three British and Irish Lions tours, he has carefully progressed his coaching education, which arrives at an important juncture this summer as he leads Ireland into Tests against Georgia and Portugal.

Following roles with the Munster academy and Ireland under-20s, O’Connell spent a year at Top 14 club Stade Francais as Heyneke Meyer’s forwards coach.

He found the going tough, later saying it was “too full-on for me”. But when head coach Andy Farrell came calling before the 2021 Six Nations, he considered the chance to work with Ireland’s current pack too good to turn down.

Naturally, when other opportunities have arisen, his name has been put forward with haste.

A Munster icon, he won two European Cups and three league titles during his 14 years in the red jersey. But when Johann van Graan announced he would vacate his role as Munster head coach for Bath at the end of the 2021-22 season, O’Connell admitted he “wouldn’t be qualified to do it”.

The 45-year-old is also a Lions great. Three tours, 2009 tour captain, seven Tests, his CV is admirable, so admitting last year that he did not feel ready to assist Farrell would not have been easy.

Compare O’Connell’s perspective to that of his contemporaries. Ronan O’Gara, his long-time Munster and Ireland team-mate, took the La Rochelle job in 2019, six years into his coaching career.

With two European Cups tucked away, it has worked out well for the former fly-half, who has also boldly outlined his desire to break into Test coaching.

Johnny Sexton, another former Irish fly-half of unchallenged stature, has enjoyed a swifter move through the ranks. After less than a year coaching Ireland on a part-time basis, he accepted Farrell’s invitation to join the Lions tour as a kicking coach.

As forwards coach, O’Connell may often have had his head buried in his laptop, poring over plans for the Irish line-out and maul in forensic detail.

Over the next couple of weeks, however, his remit is extended to all 33 players in his squad.

The Limerick native will not be immune to nerves, but he can at least feel uplifted by the shining endorsements he’s received from coaches and players in the build-up to Saturday’s Test against Georgia in Tbilisi.

“Paul’s a natural leader, he’s a brilliant leader,” said his former Munster team-mate Denis Leamy, who has been drafted in from the province as O’Connell’s defence coach.

“His presence alone is a great starting point. Look, he understands the game inside out, he has great knowledge and his way of imparting that knowledge with the players is hugely impressive. “

O’Connell’s standing among the other coaches is clear. As for the players, Stuart McCloskey – the only member of Ireland’s squad to have played with or against O’Connell – believes the former second row has absorbed valuable skills from working closely with Farrell.

“Intimidating as a player, as a coach he has that intimidation factor, but I think he’s very personable,” said the Ulster centre.

With 13 uncapped players and just one – McCloskey – in his thirties, O’Connell’s squad is inexperienced, so he has consciously avoided information overloads in training.

“I think short, sharp meetings are probably the best because there’s probably fewer messages and you can take them all in, write down a few notes and he’ll only say the main messages,” observed Leinster centre Jamie Osborne.

“And if there’s a couple of main messages that focus going in for a match, you know, your mind is pretty clear, you know exactly what you’re focusing on and it’s easier to bring that in. “

When Easterby stepped up to temporarily fill Farrell’s shoes, he was charged with leading Ireland to a third successive Six Nations title. O’Connell’s task may not carry such championship-level intensity, but he has still shrewdly downplayed expectations this week.

“We’ve had three very fast sessions where we’ve put them under a little bit of pressure and they’ve enjoyed that, but it hasn’t been perfect, and I don’t expect it to be perfect on Saturday,” he warned.

Diogo Jota was “a dream to work with and a pleasure to call a friend”, says Conor Coady, who was Wolves captain during the Portuguese forward’s three seasons at the club.

Before joining Liverpool, Jota was part of a Wolves side that won the Championship in 2017-18 and then went on to qualify for the Europa League with a seventh-placed finished during their first season back in the Premier League.

Jota, aged 28, died in a car crash on Thursday along with his brother Andre Silva, who was 25.

Their funerals will take place at 10:00 on Saturday in their hometown of Gondomar in Portugal.

Coady, who began his career at Liverpool and currently plays for Leicester City, heard about his friend’s death while at pre-season training with the Foxes.

“I think we’ll all remember where we were, but it goes bigger than football, what we’re all feeling now,” Coady told BBC Sport.

“This has hit everybody hard. And it will hit everybody hard for a long, long time because Diogo was a fantastic human being, an amazing friend, an amazing husband, an amazing father and an absolute incredible footballer for all the clubs he has played for.

Jota joined Wolves from Spanish side Atletico Madrid at the age of 20, initially on loan when they were still in the second tier of English football.

The Portuguese forward proved to be a revelation at the club, scoring 17 goals and providing six assists to help Wolves finish at the top of the table during his debut campaign.

“You could see it in his first session, that tenacity and the will to win was like no other,” said 32-year-old Coady.

“He was the heart and soul of the dressing room. He had a quiet way of going about himself. But you knew you could go to him about anything. For me as a captain, it was an honour and a dream to play with him. “

Before moving to England, Jota had already played under Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo while on loan at Porto, and he also reunited with his former Porto and Portugal Under-21 team-mate Ruben Neves at the club.

“He was born to play in the Premier League but Wolves were in the Championship. I used to always tell young people they need to learn from players like Diogo and Ruben, who were brave enough to step into the Championship to help a club who were struggling at that time,” said Coady.

“He was brave enough to bring his childhood sweetheart to Wolverhampton and really buy into the culture of England. He was such an example for everybody.

During a three-year stay at Wolves, Jota made 131 appearances for the club, scoring 44 goals, including consecutive hat-tricks in the 2019-20 Europa League victories over Besiktas and Espanyol.

In September 2020, he joined Premier League champions Liverpool in a £41m deal, with Wolves boss Nuno saying Jota is leaving “knowing that it will never be forgotten, especially by our fans, all the memorable moments that Diogo provided”.

“We were gutted we were losing him because he was that good,” said Coady.

“But at the same time, you gave him a big hug and you went, you know what mate, you deserve it more than anyone. Go and enjoy yourself. Go and make a name for yourself at one of the biggest clubs because you can certainly do that. And he has done for that a number of years. “

Coady posted a moving tribute to his former team-mate on his social media account after hearing the news, which he said he did while he “cried my eyes out”.

In the post, he describes how he felt grateful hearing his kids say “dad, you played with Jota” when the Liverpool player came up on the television screens – a feeling he reiterated again.

“People look at football and think it’s all about rivalry. But watching him win the Premier League with Liverpool, it filled me with immense pride – to say I played with him and he has gone on to do incredible things,” said Coady.

“He took it by storm, like he took us by storm. Like he then took the Premier league by storm. Like he then took Europa League by storm with Wolves.

Coady picked Jota’s hat-tricks in successive Europa Leagues games during the 2019-20 season as one of the standout moments of his Wolves career.

“It was like nothing to him. It was like it was dead easy. That’s how good he was. It was like he was meant to do it,” said Coady.

He also rates highly Jota’s goal against Manchester United at Molineux which sent Wolves into the 2018-19 FA Cup semi-finals.

“He scored a goal against Aston Villa in the Championship that was unbelievable but his goal against United summed him up as a footballer – his pace, his power, his technique to finish it with his left foot at near post,” Coady recalled.

“The infectious personality within a dressing room and how he helped me as a captain, how he helped us as a team, just being able to share a dressing room with a mate – it will live with me forever.

“The whole three years will live me forever and I’ll make sure that my family and my kids will always know the stories about me being able to share the pitch with him because he was an incredible fellow. “

Maori All Blacks: (12) 26

Tries: Nock, Walker-Leawere, Eklund, Wrampling Cons: Reihana 2, Trask

Scotland: (24) 29

Scotland held off a Maori All Blacks fightback to hang on to a slender lead and win a nail-biting first game of their summer tour to New Zealand.

Adam Hastings’ first-half penalty proved to be crucial, with both sides scoring four tries and three conversions in Whangarei.

The Scots have not toured New Zealand in 25 years and, although this was a non-capped international, both sides played with typical Southern Hemisphere flair throughout.

The hosts enjoyed more possession, made more metres and re-arranged more ribs than their visitors, but Gregor Townsend’s side were a little more clinical in attack and produced a huge defensive set at the last to clinch victory.

Although the next two games of Scotland’s travels have taken on more importance due to world ranking points, the tourists might not face a sterner test than the one they had in northern New Zealand.

The pace was set early and tries were traded quickly. Maori scrum-half Sam Nock scored in the opening minute before Harry Paterson dotted down an Ollie Smith grubber-kick that unlocked the hosts’ blitz defence.

George Horne scored after his box-kick caused chaos, but then Isaia Walker-Leawere hit back while the Scots were under pressure and replacement Alex Masibaka was sent to the bin.

Despite going down to 14 men, it was the visitors who went in ahead at the break. Stafford McDowall’s superb 50-22 kick got Scotland up the pitch and another Smith kick-through sent Arron Reed over the line.

The Maoris started the second-half in harum-scarum fashion, going down to 13 men when TK Howden and Bailyn Sullivan both committed yellow-card offences, but Scotland could only score five points in that 10-minute spell.

It might have been the try of the day, though. Striking from deep, Rory Hutchinson released Reed with a cat-flap offload and the speedy winger found Horne in support for the scrum-half to score his second.

As soon as the Maoris were back to their full compliment, they went to wiping out the advantage the Scots had built.

Captain Kurt Eklund scored from the back of a driving maul and then Gideon Wrampling went over in the corner after a superb Daniel Rona 50-22 put the hosts into a great position.

It was a three-point game and Scotland had the ball in their mitts in the 79th minute as they looked to see it out. It is never so simple with this team, though.

The Maoris won the turnover and launched phase after phase of attack. The Scots creaked, Cam Henderson was sent to the bin, the clock was deep in the red at the 85-minute mark.

Maori All Blacks: Z Sullivan, Forbes, B Sullivan, Wrampling, Rona; Reihana, Nock; Proffit, Eklund (c), Sykes-Martin, Shalfoon, Walker-Leaware, Howden, Brown, Grace.

Replacements: Devery, Rakete-Stones, Kumeroa, McWhannell, Delany, Hauiti-Parapara, Trask, Evans.

Scotland: Smith, Paterson, Hutchinson, McDowall (c), Reed, Hastings, Horne; McBeth, Harrison, Richardson, Sykes, Henderson, Bayliss, Onyeama-Christie, Muncaster.

Replacements: Turner, Hepburn, Hurd, Williamson, Brown, Masibaka, Burke, Dobie.

For Rhian Wilkinson, managing Wales felt like destiny.

After years of sliding doors moments for Wales’ women, the arrival of a world class coach has led to a first major tournament qualification.

On the eve of their first competitive match at Euro 2025 against formidable foes in the Netherlands, Wilkinson says leading out Wales in Lucerne will be “right up there” as one of the proudest moments of her life, despite a glittering playing and coaching career.

“This is a wonderful team, great people, fantastic footballers, and we’re going to be tested against some of the best in the world,” she told BBC Sport Wales.

“And that’s exactly what we’ve been wanting, to showcase Wales as a country and this team and their talent.

“It will be right up there in the greatest moments of my career to stand there and watch these women take the field. “

Despite only being appointed weeks before the start of Wales’ qualifying campaign, Wilkinson’s connection to Cymru runs far deeper.

Born in Canada, Wilkinson has a deep-rooted links to Wales having lived in Cowbridge for 18-months as a child.

With a Welsh mother (Shan) and an English father (Keith), Wilkinson says she has a big connection to the country.

Born in Quebec, Wilkinson lived in Cowbridge in south Wales and attended Bont Faen Primary School between 1989-1991.

Finally returning to Wales as the women’s head coach in February 2024, Wilkinson admits it is a job that was on her mind for years.

“When the job came up after Jayne Ludlow stepped down, I was sorely tempted to apply,” she said.

“I thought what an amazing opportunity it would be, but I had already verbally agreed to another job, it wasn’t great timing for me.

“I was on holiday in Rome when I saw the news that (Ludlow’s successor) Gemma Grainger had left. She and her staff had done such a wonderful job with the team, and I had followed the team closely. When it came up that she departed, I couldn’t sleep that night.

“It was something that definitely interested me straight away and I thought this could be a very exciting move for me. “

Wilkinson still has plenty of family members in Wales – her grandmother lives in Cowbridge and her aunt and uncle and cousins live in Cardiff – and she speaks glowingly of family holidays spent scaling Wales’ highest peak, Yr Wyddfa.

Indeed, Wilkinson was instrumental in the decision to announce Wales’ Euro 2025 squad at Yr Wyddfa – also known as Snowdon – a destination with huge meaning for her, having been the place where her parents enjoyed their honeymoon.

Six months before she became Wales manager, it was also the place where the Wilkinson family held a ceremony for her father after his death.

It was no surprise when Wilkinson opted to walk up the mountain – all 1,085 metres of it – rather than take the train on the day of the Wales squad announcement.

Wilkinson was a tough and formidable defender for Canada, though equally capable in midfield and she represented her country on the international stage from 2003 until 2017.

Her 183 caps make her one of the 50 most capped female footballers in history and she played in four Olympic Games, winning bronze medals in 2012 and 2016.

Wilkinson’s club career saw her star in the National Women’s Soccer League and also play for a spell in Norway,

A college graduate with a major in communication and English from the university of Tennessee, Wilkinson’s playing career and her natural leadership always made a coaching career a likely calling.

Wilkinson worked her way up, starting as an assistant and age-grade coach with Canada before working as an assistant for both the England national team and Team GB at the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.

It was only a matter of time before a head coach role arrived and Wilkinson was appointed as Portland Thorns coach in 2021, winning the NWSL Championship in her first season.

However, Wilkinson was asked to stand-down after an investigation into a relationship with a player – there was no suggestion Wilkinson did anything wrong and the couple have subsequently married – with Wilkinson admitting that it was “a painful time” for her.

Wilkinson was out of football at the highest level for a year after her departure from Portland, before Grainger’s shock resignation and move to Norway opened up a vacancy she had always thought about. She was appointed Wales boss in February 2024.

Unquestionably, it was not easy to hit the ground running as Wales boss, with the players angry and frustrated by Grainger’s departure and wary of Wilkinson’s appointment.

Initially there were certainly some issues in winning over the players who had hoped Grainger’s assistant, Jon Grey, would be given the role.

Had it not of been for the circumstances of Wilkinson’s departure from Portland, it might have been the case that Wales would have always remained a place where Wilkinson felt affinity, but not somewhere she was particularly minded to work.

However, it quickly became apparent that this was an ideal match, with Wilkinson succeeding in winning over the Wales squad over a 15-month period where results spoke for themselves.

Wilkinson steered Wales to Nations League B promotion, before helping to mastermind their Euro 2025 play-off success, firstly with a hard-fought play-off semi-final win over Slovakia.

Wales were held to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the play-off final by the Republic of Ireland but then recorded a stunning 2-1 win in Dublin to reach a major finals for the first time.

The 43-year-old especially showed her credentials in the Republic of Ireland matches, steering Wales past formidable foes despite being without Sophie Ingle and with star performer Jess Fishlock far from full fitness after returning from a calf tear.

Wilkinson seemed to successfully utilise mind games against then Ireland boss Eileen Gleeson, who got increasingly annoyed with comments made about her side.

“The only time I think about Rhian Wilkinson is when I get asked about her by you,” she told journalists before the showdown in Dublin.

Ireland seemed agitated and on the edge in the final, Wales kept their cool and finally, are to play in a major tournament.

“When she speaks, it makes me want to run through a brick wall for her,” said Wales defender Rhiannon Roberts.

“Our manager Rhian Wilkinson is one of the key reasons why we are where we are,” defender Josie Green wrote in her BBC column.

“I have found Rhian absolutely fantastic to work with. I sit in some of her meetings and she delivers the messages and I think ‘wow, that is such an impassioned and empowered speech’.

“That is what you want as a player, a coach that inspires you, who motivates you and who pushes you on and also makes you feel valued as a member of the group. Rhian has had a massive impact in the 15 months she has been our manager, we have a lot of belief in her. “

Wales’ most capped player, Fishlock believes Wilkinson has given Wales better squad depth than they have ever had.

“What I love about her is she loves to rotate and give opportunities,” said Fishlock.

“The depth of our squad is going to be our secret weapon. But also, I don’t think we get the depth without her. She’s the first manager who has given those opportunities.