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Ex-Falcons boss Alex Codling joins Gareth Steenson in new IRFU gig
By Ian Cameron
Former Newcastle Falcons head coach Alex Codling has been appointed as the new forwards coach for the Ireland women’s rugby team.
Head coach Scott Bemand confirmed the coaching team for the upcoming Test match against Australia in Belfast and the WXV1 campaign in Vancouver. After leading Ireland to a third-place finish in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations and securing qualification for the Rugby World Cup 2025, Bemand is focused on the upcoming 150th Anniversary Test match against Australia.
Former England international Codling brings plenty of experience to the role. He joins the coaching team alongside Hugh Hogan - who has been named defence coach - and former Exeter Chiefs and Ulster sharp shooter Gareth Steenson; who comes in as kicking coach.
Denis Fogarty continues as scrum coach for a third season. Former Ireland international and Grand Slam winner Maz Reilly will join Bemand's coaching staff as a World Rugby coach intern, adding further expertise to the team.
Codling was most recently head coach at Newcastle Falcons while Hogan has held senior coaching roles with Leinster, Scarlets, and Suntory Sungoliath in Tokyo.
“Alex, Hugh and Gareth have been working with the Women’s High Performance Programme at the High Performance Centre in recent weeks and have settled in well, bringing fresh energy and focus to the group as we prepare for our opening match of the season and the WXV campaign in Canada this Autumn.
“It is also exciting to have Maz on board with us, having been a stalwart in the green jersey during her playing days and shown huge coaching potential in her role with Leinster in recent seasons. We look forward to coming together as a full playing and staff group next Monday to hit the ground running ahead of the exciting opportunities ahead.”
John McKee will move into a new role within the Women’s High Performance Programme.
Bemand’s squad will assemble for camp in early September.
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Latest Comments
Yes I was surprised at how close the pen count was - the spread between best and worst being just 2. The number of yellow cards though will surely be something the Boks will look to address
Go to commentsBriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol! Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol! Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol!
It's incredible to see the boys playing like this. Back to the form that saw them finish on top of the regular season and beat Toulon to win the challenge cup. Ibitoye and Ravouvou doing a cracking Piutau/Radradra impression.
It's abundantly clear that Borthwick and Wigglesworth need to transform the England attack and incorporate some of the Bears way. Unfortunately until the Bears are competing in Europe, the old criticisms will still be used.. we failed to fire any punches against La Rochelle and Leinster which goes to show there is still work to do but both those sides are packed full of elite players so it's not the fairest comparison to expect Bristol to compete with them. I feel Bristol are on the way up though and the best is yet to come. Tom Jordan next year is going to be obscene.
Test rugby is obviously a different beast and does Borthwick have enough time with the players to develop the level of skill the Bears plays have? Even if he wanted to? We should definitely be able to see some progress, Scotland have certainly managed it. England aren't going to start throwing the ball around like that but England's attack looks prehistoric by comparison, I hope they take some inspiration from the clarity and freedom of expression shown by the Bears (and Scotland - who keep beating us, by the way!). Bristol have the best attack in the premiership, it'd be mad for England to ignore it because it doesn't fit with the Borthwick and Wigglesworth idea of how test rugby should be played. You gotta use what is available to you. Sadly I think England will try reluctantly to incorporate some of these ideas and end up even more confused and lacking identity than ever. At the moment England have two teams, they have 14 players and Marcus Smith. Marcus sticks out as a sore thumb in a team coached to play in a manner ideologically opposed to the way he plays rugby, does the Bears factor confuse matters further? I just have no confidence in Borthers and Wiggles.
Crazy to see the Prem with more ball in play than SR!
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