Ealing add former Ireland scrum-half to their coaching roster

Ealing Trailfinders have added former Ireland scrum-half Kieran Campbell to their coaching staff for the 2021/22 season. Head of the Ulster academy since 2015, he has been responsible for bringing through a huge amount of talent at the Kingspan Stadium as well as coaching Ulster A and Ireland U20s.

His 13-year playing career included four seasons at London Ireland before he joined Ulster in 2001, going on to make 115 appearances for the province and play for Ireland on three occasions.  

The 41-year-old Campbell will now work mainly in skills and assisting in coaching the backs and attack alongside Ealing director of rugby Ben Ward. He told the Trailfinders website: "I'm very excited with the opportunity and challenge of moving to Ealing for the 2021/2022 season.

"I have been hugely impressed by Ben's description of the processes and infrastructure they have in place. It is clear that they are extremely confident in what they are developing and are very much on course to being successful.”

“The opportunity to work as a senior coach in the skills and attack areas of the game is the challenge I have been seeking and I am delighted to have been given this opportunity.”

Ward added: “Kieran has a wealth of experience and we are very excited that he will be joining us. He shares the same vision of how the game should be played, and we believe he will be a brilliant appointment as we look to keep making strides forward.”

In an August 2019 interview with RugbyPass, Campbell explained the approach he had taken to the sport as Ulster academy boss. “There is a bit of a misnomer that rugby is looking for bigger, heavier players. Definitely, here we are looking to try and avoid those collisions and be explosive enough to keep that power-to-speed part of our game alive and stretch teams as opposed to becoming an abrasive, collision-orientated team."