What is Rugby?

by Stan Doffe, International Correspondent

Eddie O'Sullivan

The International Rugby Board (IRB) today announced that former US Eagles and Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan has accepted the position of Top Associate of Rugby Development for the Pacific Nations Cup.

The Cup, formerly known as the IRB Pacific 5 Nations, currently includes the nations of Fiji, Samoa, Japan, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia. O’Sullivan has been brought in as TARD to expand the competition to include other Pacific Rim Nations in the Americas, namely Canada, USA and Argentina, as well as Uruguay.

“When I was first offered the job by the IRB, I jumped at the opportunity,” said O’Sullivan. “It was really, really great … something I won’t forget for a long time. But afterwards, I felt a little awkward around the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) executives. I knew when they found out about the Rim job, they would not be happy. Loyalty is a strong virtue in my relationship with the IRFU, and it was clear I had breached their trust.”

The IRFU did not immediately return requests for comments but in a public statement slammed the IRB tactics to headhunt their talent pool.

“The IRB has sunk to a new low in recruiting Mr. O’Sullivan. Besides servicing his deep-rooted needs, we understand that a Hummer has been promised to the TARD as a signing bonus. We simply don’t have the resources or stomach to compete at this level for coaches and administrators for our domestic programs.”

Despite the growing bitterness between the IRB and IRFU, O’Sullivan is upbeat about the prospects of his new position.

“I am now in a position to affect rugby in a much larger capacity than I ever could as a national team coach. Expanding the Pacific Nations Cup and raising the level of rugby in the so-called ‘2nd Tier’ nations is critical to the future of rugby, and I expect the locals to be grateful, very very grateful.”

Although O’Sullivan’s tenure as TARD does not officially start until June, he has already begun his preparations for the task at hand. The first order of business is to appoint an Americas Strategic Selector to identify talent and raise the competitive level of the North and South Americans.

“I will have to choose my ASS very carefully to create competition for the dominant Rim nations such as Fiji and Tonga,” said O’Sullivan. “If the Pacific Islanders once again blow away the others in the 2009 Cup, the Rim job and Hummer will have only been a very expensive teaser.”