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McNamara to succeed Cullen as Leinster head coach
Noel McNamara will take over as Leinster head coach next season, replacing Leo Cullen, who is leaving after 12 years in charge. The appointment returns McNamara to a province where he previously held several coaching and academy roles, and follows his success with Bordeaux.
McNamara will remain Bordeaux’s attack coach until the end of the season; the French club beat Leinster 41-19 in last season’s Champions Cup final and have won the competition twice in a row. Leinster say he will join next July. Cullen, appointed in 2015, led Leinster to six league titles and the 2018 Champions Cup, though the team has since lost five Champions Cup finals.
In short
- Noel McNamara will replace Leo Cullen as Leinster head coach next season.
- He will finish the current season with Bordeaux before returning to Leinster.
- Cullen won six league titles and the 2018 Champions Cup.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Appointing McNamara gives Leinster a coach with recent success at Bordeaux and prior experience within the province, offering both a fresh approach and familiarity with its structures. After five recent Champions Cup final defeats, a change in leadership could help the team address what has held it back while building on Cullen’s record of six league titles and a European crown.
The case against
Cullen’s six league titles and 2018 Champions Cup show that he delivered sustained success, so ending his tenure carries a risk of disrupting a proven culture and losing institutional knowledge. McNamara’s Bordeaux achievements are promising, but success there does not guarantee he can improve Leinster’s results, and the timing means he will only join after the current season.
Explained simply
Leinster is a professional rugby union team based in Ireland’s eastern province of the same name. It competes in the United Rugby Championship, a league shared by teams from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy and South Africa, and in European competition against clubs from across the continent.
Leo Cullen has coached Leinster since 2015, during a period in which the team won six league titles and the 2018 European Champions Cup. Noel McNamara has worked at Leinster in coaching and academy roles before moving to Bordeaux, where he is the attack coach.
The Champions Cup is European club rugby’s main tournament. Leinster’s recent run of five defeats in finals, alongside Bordeaux’s back-to-back titles, provides context for the change in coach and the attention around McNamara’s return.