Conor O'Shea is a future Irish rugby coach

Glad to see you're taking it so well, Pajo.

You know what they say PastHisBest, the trouble with unemployment is that the minute you wake up in the morning you're on the job!

Anytime Pothale.

"I have work to do………." Somehow I doubt that.

Very good stuff Ian - thanks. Am somewhat familiar with Irish as parts of my wider family were involved with the club for a number of years - albeit more of it in amateur days. Was thinking that O'Shea might start to search out a few players from Ireland in the way that Wasps and Leicester have done in recent years - maybe not given his more recent tenures.

Pothale London Irish is known as the "Not Nots" by Quins fans, not Irish ( very few Irish players) and not in London. In their match day squad only Casey and Danaher feature, and they play in Reading. Little Irish connections otherthan the board with the Clancey Brothers being prominent, although the majority of fans still hanker after the Irishness of the clubs roots. The most keenly fought game at the Stoop is against the"not nots", partly because they played at the Stoop before moving to Reading, also a great craic after the game, as their fans are amongst the best. The recent movement has been the other way with Thompson (Quins Academy) and Malone moving from Quins. O'Shea would have played at the Stoop for the "not nots" and he will have seen the transformation of the ground to being probably one of the best purpose built club rugby grounds in England. In spite of "bloodgate" attendances are up and the Big Game v Wasps at Twickenham on the 27/12 has now sold 65,000 tickets, with over a week to go. I suspect a gate close to 70,000, which isn't too bad following on from last years big game of 50,000. Again whilst there still are City connections as most London area clubs have but they are not the only source as Eithad Airways, Samsung and others are the main sponsors

Being a Quins STH, I find some of the comments about Quins to be frankly a load of tosh. It was probably true many years ago that Quins attracted players with a City of London background but that has changed over the years. Primarily because in spite of the onset of professional, these guys earn more money in the City than as a professional rugby player. Facts are that the squad at Quins is broadly based and to survive as a present day rugby player, much to the dismay of many who still hanker for the old amateur attitudes, the demands on finess, diet etc for the players make it impossible for old attitudes to survive. By the way, probably the most successful of all Quins in the professional era was Jason Leonard, a plumber from Barking, East London. As for the appointment of O'Shea it has taken most Quins fans by surprise and judging from Quins fan's blogs there is a feeling that he must be given an opportunity, particularly as the selection panel included Sean Fitzpatrick who is a Quins director. I suppose that if the fans had their way they might have chosen McGeechan. O'Shea is young (39) and I think this a is a long term appointment as Quins are looking for continuity building on a coaching team that has been together for a number of years We shall see, albeit, London Irish fans, where O'Shea has a long association as a player and administrator, trolling on Quins fans threads have generally spoken very highly of his abilities not only as a communicator but as a man manager. Disagree with VC he has a good rugby brain as in addition to being involved with London irish, he was heavy involved with the elite player development programme for the RFU before he moved on to be the director of the English Institute of Sport. As he has said he is returning to his first love. Further a pleasant corporate face will not survive in the harsh commercial environment of the GP, as the ultimate buck will stop with him. I wish he could start before March as there are a number of key players who contracts are up for negotiation and he has got to look at recruitment for next season. For others, the sport at Eton and indeed Harrow is football (soccer) with other sports such as rowing and rugby union not far behind. So I wish some people would get their facts rights instead of making stupid assumptions.

That sums it up perfectly VC and fits with what I was referring to. O'Shea doesn't strike me as a coach at all - In England or in Ireland as the article's author seems to think he's destined for. His pedigree as a coach is very lacklustre, and frankly, I'd rate his time in Irish rather than Quins, if I was to rate anything in his CV. However, his departure from the game into the corridors of management/administration - with the chopping and changing one gets these days where chaps seem to grow tired after 3 years in a job - will possibly catch up with him if he attempts to get stuck in a the playing edge in the club. He could be very good for leading and delivering new standards within the club, and as you say, finding the talent and corporate links that are essential to a club's lifeblood. I wonder if we'll see a diversion of Green talent, links and money away from Irish to Quins? Although Quins has good connections into the City, I understand.

Yes, Pothale, but rugby - even at Quins - is an earthy game. A chap, sooner or later, must back up his smooth words with actions. My suspicion is that O'Shea has more than a touch of Irish blarney about him. I can well imagine him charming the Quins interview board, but I would be keen to know why he seems to hop from job to job so rapidly. Dean Richards did very well to inject a bit of steel over the past five years and I would hate for O'Shea to return the club to the soft days of old on the field.

As a Quins fan, I''m not too convinced by O'Shea's appointment. An Irish chum of mine informs me that he is a very fluent and perceptive rugby analyst on RTE, but so what? Many people sound plausible when talking about rugby. Managing a team against the likes of Leicester and Wasps is a harder task altogether. The fellow has been out of rugby for several years and the word on the mean streets of Richmond is that he was selected for his charming media presence rather than for any great rugger knowledge. I would hate to think that the Quins directors have over-reacted to Bloodgate by selecting a DoR on the basis of his PR skills rather than his coaching and management skills. That said, Kingston seems to know his stuff and the senior players are very influential, so it might not be a disaster if O'Shea limits himself to attracting new talent and presenting a pleasant corporate face to the world.

Very good, Dave. Like that. do you not get the sense, that given the way you describe Harlequins that O'Shea would fit in rather well - he strikes me as a corporate type, has the necessary bonhomie and cheer, is a good media performer - UK and Irish stations have used him as a pundit, has a relevant pedigree with his work with RFU - more English than the English themselves perhaps?

If I may try and explain where the "ultimate Rah Rah side in World Rugby" comes from, it is probably to do with the fact that Harlequins was and is for many the epitome of the blue-blood English club which was traditionally made up of well to do Eton and Guards types. Think of the stereotype you like to imagine English rugby represents: privelege, distain for the lower orders, being on first name terms with half of the House of Lords, Daddy sits on the board of a merchant bank keeping the seat warm for you when you come of age, Rolls Royce in the car park of Twickenham with a champagne hamper in the boot for pre-match tiffin etc etc etc Well, that's Harlequins. Most of the other clubs now prominent in the English premiership have earthier roots and are much more "of the people" in the areas from which they come. In particular Bath, Gloucester, Leicester, Northampton etc etc. But Harlequins was always the toffs' club. Let me close with an anecdote from the life of Wavell Wakefield, the famous captain of England when they won several grand slams in the 1920s. He later became a Conservative MP before being elevated to the Lords. It was said that when he first put himself forward as a candidate for selection by his local Conservative constituency association, he was asked to state why people should vote for him. He replied: "I have captained Harlequins, the Army and England. What more do you bloody want?" He got elected.

I think Past His Best summed it up nicely. 1. Reverse at high speed, and take both feet with you. 2. Look up the word 'vitriolic' in the dictionary and then find where in my post or PHB's that the definition applies to what either of us wrote. 3. Look up the word 'quaint' in the dictionary and you'll find three meanings: Charmingly odd, especially in an old-fashioned way; b) Unfamiliar or unusual in character; strange: c) Cleverly made; artful. You can work out which is most appropriate. 3. The article is posted on an Australian sports website so making assumptions about home-town references or local humour being understood won't always fly. 4. "Obviously anyone with a cultural bone in their body will understand the mild irony where a Kerry GAA legend’s son becomes the main man in one of the poshest rugby clubs on the planet. (Posh means upper class/inherited wealth/Eton types), (Oh Eton is a posh school)." O'Shea's previous appointments started with playing for London Irish, managing them, becoming head of the RFU Academy, and is currently National Director of the English Institute of Sport. There isn't any irony left to be handed out with his appointment to Harlequins - he is already clearly identified as an establishment man. Trying to use hooks about him being a Kerry GAA player's son is a bit stale and hackneyed at this point. A more relevant point might be that O'Shea is being brought in as Director of Rugby of a club that has established a far more inglorious reputation for itself in the public mind with the Bloodgate affair (rather than any public school image as you attest), and which O'Shea's appointment apparently is meant to help rescue them from - RahRah doesn't even come into it. 5. PHB asked if his appointment a good thing for Irish rugby (which you assert) or the wider one about Irish coaches getting jobs? A valid question to ask from an outsider's point of view. Take the chip off your shoulder and don't assume that a question in the context of the Irish economy is someone out to get you. The Irish economy is a basket case and unemployment is over 400,000 and rising. People are aware of it - don't get in a flap. PS - I love the line where you say about the Irish that you "kind of like them. Plus, they have a bit of culture too". Phew - what a ringing endorsement - I'm flattered. :)

I sprung out of my bed on the right hand side this morning at 6am, looking good and feeling awesome. I grabbed a quick shower, freshened up for work before I realised I was ahead of schedule, so lept back into the sack with this missus for a quick round. She was lovin' it. Anyways.............. Sarcasm/drilling for the nerve in forums is fine and I particularly enjoy it, accordingly when I respond to a sarco posting (like yours), I like to give it loads. Alas, imagine my disappointment when I read your damp squib response that just wreaked of hurt feelings and tender sensibilites.......... As for it being too small? I guess it was pal. I guess it was. I don't apologise for being right most of the time....I wallow in it! As for my feet, rather than them being in my delicable gob, I am actually (as we speak) trying to remove them from your a*se following the verbal ass kicking I just unleashed on your skippy ass! Ta-ra old chap. I have work to do..........

Whoa, back the truck up sunshine. Get out of bed on the wrong side did we? I'll let Pothale defend his post (and since he is also Irish I'm sure he'll manage that nicely), but I'd like you to re-read mine and point out exactly what got your goat about it. 1. I didn't understand the comment about 'quins and genuinely wanted to know. Sometimes things do get lost in translation. 2. My second point was a small attempt a humour. Too small for you Pajovic mayhaps? Take some of your own advice, "Try and think a little...", and get both feet out of your gob. Toodle pip.

POTHALE AND PASTHISBEST: what's with the vitriolic attack on what I can state is a nice piece of journalism? Is it the usual childish my dad is better than your dad type SH arguement. Change the record boys. Try and think a little, it only hurts a little. Quaint piece? How so? Is it written on parchment or perhaps is it quaint because you audio heard it on a cassette because you cannot read? I know how you SH boys roll. Obviously anyone with a cultural bone in their body will understand the mild irony where a Kerry GAA legend's son becomes the main man in one of the poshest rugby clubs on the planet. (Posh means upper class/inherited wealth/Eton types), (Oh Eton is a posh school). As for PastHisBest's misinterpretation of “With so few Irish coaches operating in the upper levels of professional rugby, the news that Conor O’Shea is primed to take over as Director of Rugby at Harlequins can only be a good thing.” It is pretty clear that he means that this is a good thing for Irish rugby. Pretty hard to interpret it any other way, but contratulations, you have managed to do just that! As for what a Rah Rah means, we'll, coming from your one eyed skippy perspective, I can forgive you for not knowing what a Rah Rah is. It means a public (fee paying) school boy chap, that went to Eton perhaps, is super posh and considers himself super intellectual and well, somewhat elite. The 'Quins are essentially their rugby team. A deplorable bunch really but at the same time quick witted, great banter at a rugby game and they know their rugby too. I can see why you might be unaware of them living all the way over there in the antipodes, where rugby types are less likely to read a book and more likely to get caught doing a spot of burglary, drink driving, wife beating........[insert felony] Finally, as for the Irish economy, I can't wait to see what happens when Western Australia runs out of stuff to mine and sent to China. it won't be pretty. Plus at least the irish have an educated work force. Rugby wise, for a nation of 4 million where rugby is the fourth sport behind Gaelic footie, Hurling and Soccer they do okay. I kind of like them. Plus, they have a bit of culture too. Just think of that next time your watching the Wobblies play in your local Irish pub in Wagga Wagga or Wogga Wooga or wherever you herald from. Cheerio boys. (That means goodbye or later mate as you chaps might mumble).

“The ultimate rah rah side in English and world rugby” I'd also like to know what this means. Perhaps it's something that isn't immediately obvious for SH readers. "With so few Irish coaches operating in the upper levels of professional rugby, the news that Conor O’Shea is primed to take over as Director of Rugby at Harlequins can only be a good thing." For Irish rugby perhaps? Or are you saying that it's just generally a good thing that more boys from Ireland get jobs? (perhaps given the current state of the Irish economy...)

Kidney could be around for a decade judging by this year. I doubt he would quit the Irish role for just three matches as Lions coach.

Quaint piece. "The ultimate rah rah side in English and world rugby" What does that mean exactly? And why would many find it amusing that a guy who's played his rugby in England and managed in the English sporting system be appointed as a rugby club coach just because his father played GAA?