Tag Archives: mike catt

The post-mortem on Ireland’s troubling 24-12 loss to England in Twickenham this afternoon has already started and will continue for a long time to come.  The finishing scoreline flattered Andy Farrell’s side following a last-minute try from Andrew Porter but there can be no papering over the cracks that this game exposed. England dominated Ireland in every aspect of the …

From his early days as a player/coach with London Irish, Mike Catt has been carving a career as a top international coach, a 10-year journey which brought him from the Exiles to England, to Italy and the latest stop, Ireland.  Now responsible for Ireland’s attack, supporters, journalists and the general rugby public will be keeping a close eye on how …

There’s an air of renewed optimism surrounding this Ireland team as they embark on the beginning of the Andy Farrell era with the visit of Scotland for the opening round of the 2020 Six Nations.  Of course, the outcome of the Six Nations which finishes in six weeks will determine whether this is just hot air but there is a …

Conor O’Shea has backed Mike Catt to have an immediate impact in Ireland’s new-look management side under Andy Farrell.  The former England international spent the last three years working alongside O’Shea with the Italian national team. Both recently stepped away from their respective roles with Catt set to link up with former colleague Andy Farrell ahead of the 2020 Six …

The fallout from Ireland’s disappointing 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign will continue between now and the 2020 Six Nations as IRFU Performance Director David Nucifora conducts a thorough review of the campaign by interviewing players and coaching staff.  There are multiple theories being submitted to explain Ireland’s decline in 2019; a stagnant gameplan, an over-the-top, all-encompassing focus on breaking the …

The IRFU have confirmed that Mike Catt will join the Ireland coaching team after the 2019 World Cup in Japan.  Catt is currently attack coach with Italy and previously held similar roles with England prior to and including the 2015 World Cup. Catt also held a coaching role with London Irish for four years prior to his involvement with England. …

Former England and Lions star Mike Catt is reportedly set to join the Irish backroom staff as their attack coach following the World Cup in Autumn. According to Brendan Fanning of Independent.ie, the IRFU are expected to announce the appointment in the coming days as Ireland complete their coaching roster, with Simon Easterby, John Fogarty, Richie Murphy and head-coach Andy Farrell. …

Warren Gatland will unveil the Lions coaching team on Wednesday. Earlier this week Warren Gatland’s preparations for the upcoming Lions tour of New Zealand suffered a set back when The Times confirmed that Gregor Townsend would not be part of of the touring sides’s coaching team. Although the highly rated coach had a clause in his Scotland contract allowing him …

England take on South Africa in a mouth-watering fixture where the home team will be hoping for their first victory over the Springboks in almost a decade. However, a number of South African-born players have gone on to wear the white jersey and we’ve put together a team of those players and those who could go on to carry the …

Continuing with our series of ‘By Numbers’ pieces, we move on to analysing individual team performances across the history of the Premiership. We begin with Bath, a team that were utterly dominant in the late eighties and early nineties but haven’t won an English domestic title since 1996. Team Records Biggest win: 76 – 13 against London Scottish 15th May …

Accusations have at times been thrown at England’s Premiership that it is a southern hemisphere ‘graveyard’ where ageing Kiwis, Aussies or South Africans head to in the last few years of their careers, but exactly how true is that? We’ve put together a team of the oldest players in each position to have played in the Premiership. Roger Murtaugh from …

We continue our study of the best players to have played for England – statistically speaking – by looking at the best young players and the most successful players in terms of victories over the southern hemisphere and the four most powerful nations of Europe. The Young Guns XV This is a team made up of the most successful players …

Since Stuart Lancaster’s resignation from his England post back in October, the former head coach has taken an awful lot of flak amongst the media and particularly amongst supporters, some of it just but a lot of it not. With news of his potential linking up with former European Champions Cup winners Toulon, we look at why Lancaster might just …

“They say they will return again, But they won’t say exactly when…” Those are the closing lines from a song aptly named ‘London Irish’ by The Divine Comedy. With the Reading-based club’s relegation fate all but sealed after losing to Harlequins on Sunday, the Premiership is waving goodbye to one of its most historic clubs. Yet it seems few know …

As sports science within rugby continues to improve, some players seem to be able to prolong their careers more and more, year after year. Here, we have put together a XV containing the oldest players to have taken to the field in the Aviva Premiership, Pro 12, Top 14 and Super Rugby competitions. There are some very big names here, …

The President of the Italian Rugby Federation had poured cold water over rumours linking Conor O’Shea with the Italy job. Although he had never publicly stated his intention to take over the soon to be vacated position of Italian coach, Conor O’Shea had been expected to replace Jacque Brunel at the end of the season. However, in an interview published in La …

It’s Friday, and time for a bit of nostalgia. Jonah Lomu was taken all too soon, and his passing in November united the rugby world in grief. He was rugby’s first global superstar, and brought the game to a whole new level. He reinvented the style of the winger, and paved the way for an increase in physicality of the …

With Jacques Brunel leaving the post as Italy head coach at the end of this season, focus has turned to the potential successors. Departing Harlequins head coach Conor O’Shea has been heavily linked with the job, with reports earlier this week suggesting that the Irishman has already sat down with captain Sergio Parisse and the number 8 has agreed to delay …