Overcoached Irish losing the ability to read the game.
25.05.26, 14:20 Updated 25.08.26, 14:10
Richard Dixon
Last Saturday’s Champions Cup final was a stark contrast between the now oh-so-familiar ‘phase play’ of Irish teams, in particular Leinster and the national team, and a style of rugby which is often lazily referred to as ‘French flair’, but is actually far more about a way of coaching the game.
Let’s not forget that UBB president Laurent Marti had a year as a junior player at Stade Toulousain, which he is on record as saying made a big impression on him. Nor that head coach Yannick Bru spent the bulk of his playing career, and the first five years of his coaching career at ST. And that lineout coach, the South African Shaun Sowerby, spent five years of his playing career at ST too. So the DNA is there.
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Richard Dixon Richard's fascination with French rugby is deep and longstanding. University tours were followed by a spell playing for Bergerac. Once his playing days were over, he began coaching and attended the legendary Pierre Villepreux's residential coaching camps. Richard now lives in Toulouse, and coaches young people at both Stade Toulousain and TOEC.