Matt O'Connor has international aspirations – Rugby News Update
The 41-year-old Australian, Matt O’Connor, has stated that he would love to coach internationally, and would love to be involved with the England setup under head coach Stuart Lancaster if the opportunity comes his way.
England has recently appointed Mike Catt, the former coach of the London Irish as an attack coach, but his appointment is on an interim basis, meaning he will only be working with England on their summer tour of South Africa, where they play a three-match
test series along with playing two other mid-week games.
Catt, a former England international vacated his position with the Exiles but having joined the England team management, it is rumoured that he will get a permanent place in Lancaster’s team after the tour.
However, O’Connor has put his hand up, saying that he would love to be involved with England or any team internationally, as he aspires to become an international coach at some point in his coaching career.
"I've certainly got aspirations to coach internationally. The international stage is the pinnacle and I'd love to challenge myself at that level," said O’Connor.
His comments in March might not sit well with the Lancaster, when he accused the England camp of mistreating two of his Leicester players, Ben Youngs and Toby Flood. He had said that England does not want creative players, and his team scores the most tries
in the Premiership with these two players in the team. He accused the management team of safety first and creativity second.
"England were playing a certain brand of rugby under that regime," said O'Connor. "Look, I don't have any dramas if you want to pick players to play in a certain way."
"I was offended that there was a broader perception that Ben and Toby were struggling for confidence or out of form. They weren't with us. Look at our record.”
O’Connor made his name in coaching but he did play a solitary test for his native Australia against Ireland at Brisbane, on June 5, 1994. If he has any aspirations of becoming a part of the England team management, then he has to be careful as to what he
says.
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