John Connolly (rugby)

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John "Knuckles" Connolly (26 June 1951 in Brisbane) is a rugby union coach and the current head coach of the Wallabies. Connolly has in the past worked with the Queensland Reds, Stade Français, Swansea RFC as well as Bath Rugby.

1 Career
2 References
3 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] Brothers/Queensland (1980-1999)

As a rugby player, Connolly played hooker for the Brothers club in Brisbane. From 1980 through to 1982, Connolly acted as a player and a coach for a rugby team in Darwin. His first major coaching position was with the Brothers club in Brisbane in 1983, acting as the reserve grade coach for three years, taking the team to two premierships. Subsequent roles came to him as he was appointed as the Under 19s and Under 21s Queensland rugby union coach. In 1989, Connolly took up a coaching position within the Queensland Rugby team. In 1991, Connolly served as an Australian selector. During his time with Queensland, the side won the Super Six in 1992 and the Super 10 Championship in 1994 and 1995.

With the inception of the Super 12 competition in Australia in 1996, Connolly continued his position at the Queensland Reds. The Reds won the minor premiership that year, and Connolly went on to win the Super 12 Coach of the Year award in both 1998 and 1999, the Reds also winning the minor premiership in 1999 as well.

[edit] Paris/Swansea/Bath (2000-2005)

He went over to France the following season, where he took up a position at the Stade Français rugby club. The club won the premiership during the 1999-2000 season and were Heineken Cup finalists that same year as well, which they followed up they next year.

During the 2002-03 season, Connolly coach the Swansea RFC. But he had arrived at the height of changing times in Welsh rugby, with the new system of regional rugby soon to be taken up. In the middle of the season, Swansea went into liquidation.

He then took up a position at the Bath Rugby club in England, where Michael Foley had been signed as their forwards coach, Foley had previously played as hooker under Connolly at the Queensland Reds. Bath, who had been struggling in recent years found themselves as competition leaders by late 2003. Connolly went on to win the Zurich Premiership Director of the Year award as well as taking Bath to a minor premiership in the 2003-04 season. Bath went on to meet the London Wasps in the final, with the Wasps winning in the end. The following year they were finalists in the Powergen Cup.

[edit] Australia (2006)

Following the sacking of Eddie Jones as the national coach of Australia, after a poor Northern hemisphere tour result, the search was on for a new head coach for the Wallabies. It was announced by the Australian Rugby Union in early February of 2006,^[1] that Connolly had been appointed as the new head coach of the Australian team. Connolly named a new-look Wallabies squad shortly after the end of the 2006 Super 14 season, with a number of notable omissions, sending a clear message that no ones position in the side is guaranteed. He was vocal with his opinion on off-field behaviour, saying "We don't want a team of choirboys, but we do want a team that respects everyone".^[2]

In his first match as coach of Australia, the Wallabies led England nine to nil at the break, their only points coming from penalty goals. However, the Wallabies stormed home in the second half, eventually running out winners 34 to three, marking a successful debut for Connolly. He was pleased with the win, saying "We are happy with the win. In saying that, we all realise we still have a long way to go.", but was the first to admit that the Wallabies were "rusty" in the first half, but was impressed with Australia's defence and new loose forward combination.^[3] The subsequent test at Telstra Dome in Melbourne was won 43-18 by the Wallabies, and Connolly made it three wins from three matches with a win over Ireland a week later at Subiaco Oval in Perth. Australia finished second in the 2006 Tri Nations Series.