Alan Gaffney - Saracens Director of Rugby |
|
HOT OFF THE PRESS.... Saracens are delighted to announce that Alan Gaffney has been appointed in the role of Director of Rugby. Gaffney brings more than 20 years coaching experience to Saracens including successful spells with both Munster and Leinster. During his three-year spell as Director of Rugby with Munster, he helped the club twice reach the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup along with winning the Celtic League and Cup. Alan's role for the final four weeks of the season will be one of an observer, and he will not be playing a direct role with regard to playing matters for the remaining games. His focus will be on pre-season planning for 06/07, completing the recruitment process and putting in place staff structures for next season. Eddie Jones will continue with Saracens in his current role as a coaching consultant and 'Acting Director of Rugby' until the end of the season, working closely with Mike Ford and the rest of the coaching staff in preparing the team for the final three games. Saracens Chief Executive Mark Sinderberry said: "We're delighted that Alan has agreed to join us. He's someone with more than 20 years coaching experience at the highest level and his knowledge of Northern Hemisphere rugby made him the ideal candidate for the role. "When we began the recruitment process we identified a lack of specialist coaching within the club as being significant in our lack of progress over recent years. As a result, Alan will head up an enlarged coaching team which will be finalised over the coming weeks." Speaking about the appointment, Gaffney said: "I'm absolutely delighted. I'd always wanted to coach in the English Premiership and this is a great opportunity for me and I'm really looking forward to getting involved. I've already met with a lot of the guys around the Training Centre and they seem a good bunch of people who I look forward to getting to know better over the next few weeks." Gaffney left Munster to join Australia as an Assistant Coach at the end of last season and his coaching career has also seen him spend two years at Leinster and also with the New South Wales Waratahs. He added: "I've followed the Premiership from Ireland quite extensively and also come up against a number of English teams during my time with Munster and Leinster. I know that this is a very difficult competition to play in - especially when combined with the Powergen Cup and the Heineken Cup. It puts strong demands on everyone involved and one of the other big factors in this role is managing that whole process. In this day and age, it doesn't matter so much where your rugby expertise lays, you've got to be able to manage players and make sure you are getting the optimum performance week in, week out. "I was very impressed when I met with Nigel Wray and Nick Leslau during the interview process and I've also known Mark for a number of years. I'm delighted that they have given me this opportunity and I'm very much looking forward to it." |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|