EOIN TOOLAN HOPING FOR HIS OWN 'JUSTIN HARRISON MOMENT' AS HE BEGINS LIFE WITH SCHMIDT'S WALLABIES

NEW WALLABIES SKILLS coach and head of analysis Eoin Toolan will formally join Joe Schmidt’s coaching ticket next month but his work is already well underway ahead of Australia’s first summer test against Wales on 6 July.

Toolan, who joined Gavan Casey on Rugby Weekly Extra for the final time on Wednesday before taking his new post, believes Schmidt will have a transformative impact on Australian rugby union at a crucial time in its history.

And the Sydney-based Toolan, a native of Greystones, Co. Wicklow, told the pod that the chance to reunite with Schmidt — for whom he worked with Ireland in November 2013 before taking an analyst role with the Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby — was ultimately too exciting to pass up when he received the offer several weeks ago.

“It took a little bit to consider, in all honesty,” Toolan said. “I’m three years out of the game, in a stable work environment with Hudl — nine to five, Monday to Friday, without the pressure of professional sport.

“But when you look at what’s on the landscape for Australian rugby, a home Lions series into a home World Cup, and the opportunity to work with Joe again, it was just too good an opportunity to pass up.

“I’m incredibly humbled and incredibly excited.

“I was fixated with the 2001 Lions series,” Toolan added. “The Keith Wood lineout down the left-hand side in the 22′ in the Olympic Stadium (Sydney), I think there was maybe 80 seconds to go.

Keith Wood was my hero growing up. My labrador was called Woody! And the absolute devastation when Justin Harrison steals the lineout and denies the Lions a crack at winning a historic series… And looking at it now, it’s like, ‘Jeez, I hope I get a Justin Harrison moment…’ The tables have turned massively.

Toolan, who at 26 was a member of Declan Kidney’s Ireland ticket for the 2009 Grand Slam, vividly recalls his conflicting emotions as he departed Schmidt’s national-team setup following the narrow test defeat to New Zealand in November 2013.

He and his wife Sinead emigrated to Melbourne, where Toolan ran the Rebels’ analytics department under Tony McGahan.

Schmidt, meanwhile, went on to win three Six Nations championships — including another Slam — with the Ireland team that Toolan left behind.

Toolan suspected that things might pan out that way having worked with Schmidt for only a few weeks that autumn, and the pair have remained in touch for over a decade since.

“He’s always made a massive impression on me,” Toolan said of the new Wallabies boss. “His analytical mind for the game, his encyclopedic memory of pretty much every game he’s ever been involved in is phenomenal.

“I can see the positive impact he’s going to have on Australian rugby. The talent base is there. It’s a small talent pool and one that we’ll look to widen. I think Peter Horne is obviously a brilliant appointment in the high-performance role as well.

“I think Joe’s impact can be significant and hopefully pretty quick.

“I just think his focus on the fundamentals of the game — the really key, nitty-gritty details that the players need to have a good understanding of — is probably second to none.

“As I said, the talent is there. I think they just need a little more guidance and a little more clarity in terms of individual roles, that responsibility and how it fits in with the collective.

“And I think, even just from some early conversations, chats around players, the shape of the game, it’s pretty positive to be honest.”

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2024-03-28T20:35:09Z dg43tfdfdgfd