Connacht Draw Up List Of Names To Replace Pat Lam
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Connacht Rugby have already drawn up a list of names to replace Pat Lam.
The Kiwi had another year to run on the contract he signed in 2015, but has come to an agreement with Connacht to leave at the end of the season and has described the decision as “one of the most difficult I’ve had to make in my life”.
His departure has come as a big shock to the province with Aviva Premiership strugglers Bristol confirming that he will be taking up a role with the English side following his departure from Connacht.
Lam was tempted away by a “significant and compelling” offer from Bristol but Connacht already have a list of replacements drawn up.
“Pat got approached by, what he described himself, as a very significant and compelling offer,” chairman of the rugby advisory board at Connacht Conor McGuinness told RTÉ Sport.
“Bristol have a lot of funding and are a heavily financed club.
“We’ve know for a number of weeks, and we’ve been talking to Pat, that there has been interest in him.
“The reality is when you get to this level of success and when you look at what Pat did in coming into Connacht Rugby four years ago, and you look at the success we had, and not just success in terms of silverware, but the type of rugby we play.
“We play a very attractive brand of rugby. In looking for a replacement we are very clear in terms of the type of rugby that we want to play.
“It’s the brand that we have built over the last three or four years. And that’s what we’re going to build on.”
Asked about potential replacements, McGuinness said: “We have [a list]. This is what we do in terms of the structures and the processes.
“As a rugby advisory board we actually have a contingency plan in place looking at potential coaches. Not just in terms of Pat Lam but in terms of succession plans around the other coaching teams.
“In the modern game you have to be looking around the next corner.
“We do have a list of names; we’re going to be meeting David Nucifora and identifying the type of candidate that we want to take the club to the next level.”
Who do you think would be a good replacement for Pat Lam?
