Bordeaux’s attack coach in line for Dublin
Leinster have reportedly settled on their next head coach, and it is not one of the names that dominated the talk for months. According to the Irish edition of the Sunday Times, relayed by Planet Rugby, the province wants Noel McNamara, currently attack coach at Union Bordeaux-Bègles, to take over from Leo Cullen. Nothing is official. The report points to a confirmation around the middle of November.
Cullen said at the end of last season that 2026/27 would be his 12th and last year in charge, which set off a long search. Felipe Contepomi was the favourite for many, but his duties with Argentina through the Rugby World Cup would have kept him unavailable until November 2027, and Leinster reportedly could not wait that long. Scott Robertson and Jacques Nienaber, Leinster’s current senior coach, are said to have missed out. Stuart Lancaster ruled himself out, and Ronan O’Gara said he was disappointed not to hear from the province.
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A short head coaching record, a big attacking one
McNamara is 43, from County Clare, and came to coaching through teaching after a GAA background. His only professional head coaching job so far was with Leinster A while he ran the club’s academy. He has been at Bordeaux since July 2023, is in his fourth season there and signed a three-year extension in May. The numbers explain the interest: Bordeaux scored 124 tries in his first Top 14 season, up from 63 the year before, and have since won back-to-back Champions Cup titles.
His earlier stops include Ireland Under-20s, who won a Grand Slam in the 2019 Six Nations, plus North Harbour and the Sharks. The report adds that IRFU high performance director David Humphreys helped Leinster reach the decision, and it even floats McNamara as a long-term candidate to follow Andy Farrell, who is contracted to the end of the 2031 World Cup.
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