After fifteen years of sterling service, both as a player and a coach, it has been announced that Connacht Assistant Coach Dan McFarland will leave the club at the end of the season to pursue further coaching opportunities abroad.

McFarland- who also played with Richmond and Stade Francais as a prop- was the second Connacht player to reach a century of appearances for Ireland’s Western Province during his stint in Galway between 2000 and 2006.

McFarland was named Connacht’s Forward’s Coach upon his retirement in 2006 and soon joined fellow Connacht stalwart Eric Elwood’s coaching ticket during the Irish U20’s Grand Slam winning campaign of 2007.

Eventually, after four years of impressive coaching of Connacht’s forwards, McFarland ascended to the role of Connacht Assistant Coach and his departure will be a significant loss to Pat Lam’s team.

Commenting on his departure, McFarland professed his thanks to everyone associated with Connacht Rugby:

 “This has been a very difficult decision for me. Connacht Rugby has been such a large part of my life for a long time, but I feel the time has come to explore new avenues and different challenges.

“I am extremely grateful to so many people for the opportunities I have been given here – it has been an honour to work with so many committed and talented players. My family and I have had a wonderful 15 years in Connacht. It is our home and we will greatly miss the place and the people.

“I wish Willie, Pat (Lam), Tim (Allnutt) and the whole organisation the very best and I have no doubt that the excellent infrastructure that has been put in place will provide continued success going forward.”

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According to London Welsh centre/fly half Tom May, who also works as a Rugby pundit for BT Sports,  Queensland Reds and Australia scrum half Will Genia has been in negotiations with Stade Francais, regarding a move to the Top 14.

Genia, when on form, is one of the world’s foremost scrum halves and securing his signature would prove a major coup for the Parisians, who, in David Lyons, Hugh Pyle, Digby Ioane & Richard Kingi, already have a sizable Australian contingent at the club.

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