No Munster coaching ambitions for Limerick legend...for now

MUNSTER and Ireland rugby legend Paul O’Connell admits he has no ambition at present to coach Munster, saying that an unsuccessful tenure “could spoil the relationship”.

Stade Français confirmed this Tuesday that the Limerick man will leave the club at the end of the season.

Paul informed Stade Français players on Friday that he would be departing the club one season into a two-year deal.

“Certainly not at the moment anyway,” said Paul when asked by the Leader if he has any ambition to coach Munster.

“I really enjoy going to the Munster games with my parents or with friends or with the kids. I think if you take that job and it isn’t successful and you don’t do as well as the fans want you to do, it can end up, I suppose, spoiling your relationship.”

Having joined the French Top 14 club in August 2018, the former Munster man is set to depart Stade Francais on Sunday, June 30, 2019.

“I have decided not to stay beyond my contract year with the club and do not plan to join another club next season either,” said the forwards coach of the Paris-based side in a statement released on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Limerick Leader prior to the announcement, the former Ireland second row said that coaching Munster “is something you would want to be very, very ready to do and be very confident in your ability”.

“That kind of confidence comes from experience. I’m in Paris at the moment and I’m really there to find out if I want to coach. I’m not there to get experience to try and get another job somewhere else. I’m just there to experience French life and find out if it’s what I want to do or not so it’s not something I ever think about. As I said, I enjoy going to the games, having a drink, being able to relax. It’s not easy to do that when you’re the coach and times are tough, which they have been in recent times for Munster.”

Paul was speaking to the Leader at a Team Limerick Clean-up event this month ahead of the community event which takes place on Good Friday, April 19. The Limerick man aims to be back on home soil to take part in the fifth installment of the initiative.

Describing his experience with Stade Français as “very interesting” he admitted that the club had encountered “a lot of turbulence over the last number of years.

“They’ve had three different owners. We were in a relegation battle last year so it’s been difficult at times but very enjoyable, a really good club with some great players and great people there. I’m learning lots.”

Referring to France as more of “an open market” when it comes to players, the former Munster, Ireland and Lions captain said he was enjoying the experience of being involved in a different set-up to Ireland.

“The Irish provinces really are probably different to the rest of the world in that there are only four teams here, they are run by the union. Most of the guys who play for Munster, Ulster, Leinster and Connacht all grew up wanting to play for those teams whereas in France it’s more of an open market so we have players from all over France playing for us - Toulon, Grenoble, Lyon.

“We probably don’t have that many players from Paris which is funny enough but it’s very different to home and that’s probably why it’s so enjoyable for me - every day is different. If you go and work in Munster you are familiar with how it operates and you know the people - this is all new to me so it’s very enjoyable.”

With South African coaches working with the club, Paul admitted he isn’t speaking as much French as he would like to but his French is nonetheless improving.

“I know Ronan (O’Gara) when he went to Racing, he was there with French coaches who spoke French all the time and that probably helped his learning a lot. It’s going well.

“My kids are probably learning it quicker than me. They are in school and are hearing people speak it all the time.

“They are not in international schools, there are in French schools and they hadn’t one word of French when they went in the door.

“It’s an interesting challenge for them as well trying to make friends in a different language. That’s a really exciting part of it. I was lucky enough with professional rugby that I grew up in Limerick and then lived in Limerick my whole life as a professional player.

“For me to move over and live in Paris, we live in western Paris, it has been a really nice experience in that regard.”