Coaching ticket.

The IRFU have this afternoon announced the appointment of Andrew Goodman as their new backs coach with the 41-year-old set to join the Ireland men’s national team at the end of the current season until 2027.

Prior to his current role at Leinster Rugby, where he has been Assistant Coach since June 2022, Goodman worked in the NPC with Tasman Mako and then with the Crusaders whom he helped lift the Super Rugby title in 2022. More recently, he was part of Samoa’s coaching team at the Rugby World Cup in France.

Goodman played at out-half or centre for Leinster, where he won Celtic League and Challenge Cup honours during his playing career.

“This has obviously been a very difficult decision to make in one way because I have loved coming back to Leinster.

“A team that I loved playing with and a team that I love coaching. I’d like to thank Leo for the opportunity to come back and to make Dublin our family home, and I’d like to thank the players, the coaches, the staff and everyone based in UCD, for the welcome they have given myself, Nina and the kids.

“The opportunity to test yourself at the very highest level is something that I have loved doing with Samoa in the last few years and now this challenge has come up with Ireland and it’s one that I am hugely excited about.

“It’s a chance to work with one of the best teams in the world and to work with some of the best coaches and players in the world and it was one that I couldn’t turn down. I look forward to getting stuck into that when the time is right and building on the great work that Andy Farrell and the other coaches have done to now, but until then, I want to continue doing my best for this club and this group of players and the supporters that we have.”