EUROPEAN CUP INTERVIEW WITH TONY McGAHAN It's a team effort in Munster and Tony McGahan is an integral part of the set-up, writes Gerry Thornley
TONY McGAHAN travelled by train to Dublin last weekend, a day after the Munster squad on the morning of their game in the RDS. He may be relatively unknown outside of Munster, but sitting opposite him was a deaf and blind man who knew of McGahan, and they spent two hours exchanging questions and answers on a word document on his fellow passenger's computer.
His new-found friend had an in-depth rugby knowledge, knew which players were coming in or leaving. Coming from Australia, McGahan loves that; the sheer intensity of Munster rugby. There is no real escape from it, least of all with the Heineken Cup in full swing.
"It is unique. Very hard to equate with anything in world rugby. It is a special place and it is very hard to explain to people back home about the culture and the synergy that flows through the whole area and the people in Heineken Cup time, right through Magners League. It's a real rugby community. Everyone knows someone who knows someone. There is such a strong connection with the team that the people feel they are part of the team."
He loves contributing to it. Aside from the buzz of winning, he derives particular satisfaction from helping players develop, and also giving established Test players such as Paul O'Connell and Ronan O'Gara tools to make them better players.
"The individual aspect of 'teaching' is the biggest buzz, of players getting better under your tutelage. I don't think there's anything better than that."
The victory away to Gloucester was a tribute to the players first and foremost, but also to the entire backroom staff, and McGahan's influence as defensive/backs' coach was pronounced. Their well-rehearsed defence, improved line speed, double tackling to prevent the offload and - mindful of the home side's effectiveness at clearing out quick ball with as few numbers as possible - committing numbers to counter-rucking all paid rich dividends in keeping Gloucester tryless.
His and Williams' delayed arrival in Dublin had been to afford them an additional 24 hours to analyse Saracens. This, say Munster players, is typical of the man. "He's first in at 7 or 7.30, and he's last away at night," says one in emphasising McGahan's attention to detail and preparation. "His sessions are well prepared, too, and he's an excellent skills coach."
The one rider is his nickname, Dumper, which the players good-naturedly sometimes alter to Grumper, as he can be "a little bit grumpy". Tracksuited and prefacing the interview with one of his occasional weekend ciggies, McGahan's typically easy-going Aussie nature belies the tough-talking, barking coach you see from a distance.
The way McGahan sees it, he's fortunate to be working with one of the best provincial/club sides in the world, and he's taken a circuitous and interesting route to get here.
Typical of the Australian crossover between the two codes, his rugby background is a mix of rugby league and union, and though it is de rigeur for most 'defensive' coaches to hail from league, his influence was more union.
The 35-year-old grew up in Warwick in Darling Downs, in south east Queensland, a very small country town with a population of about 10,000 people. His family had a farming background before his father went into real estate. He played rugby union while boarding at St Joseph's, Nudgee College in Brisbane, and became a physical education teacher there for nine years.
McGahan played league professionally with Brisbane Broncos for a couple of seasons before being cut from there and then turned to Union, playing semi-professionally in Brisbane in the NRL for another three years. Finished with teaching, he started some coaching for a couple of years before returning to A grade rugby Union with Easts.
He played scrumhalf, or 'halfback' in rugby league, whereas he played inside centre at union, and of the two he preferred the former. "You got your hands on the ball and you're the director of play. I certainly enjoyed that aspect of it."
He points out that a halfback in league is more of a first receiver, and therefore not that far removed from an inside centre in union. The highlight was winning the Premiership in Queensland with Easts in 1999.
You ask him if he made the most of his playing career and he admits candidly: "No, definitely not. Let's say I would have been adverse to hard training. I certainly enjoyed the social side of things and I certainly enjoyed the ball play. I suppose as a young guy you think you've made it with a professional contract, that you're there for life so to speak and I suppose you always think that something else will come along. But that wasn't the case and I had to make a decision whether to continue or bite the bullet and get serious on the coaching side, and that's what I did."
In any event, he had quickly caught the coaching bug, having success with Nudgee and then another private boarding school, Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane, also coaching Easts at the same time before being assistant coach to the Queensland As. At one stage he was coaching 70-80 hours a week.
A big break was being assistant coach to the Australian side at the 2004 Under-19s World Cup alongside Scott Wisemantle who, says McGahan, will resurface soon after taking a year out. It's surprising to see a Kiwi, Robbie Deans, coaching the Wallabies given they've had generations of enlightened, leftfield coaches at the forefront of Union's development.
"There's a huge appetite for coaching. The environment is very good for it. We love the league and the union. We like the analytical side of it. A lot of the guys are school teachers. They have that desire to teach, and that's what coaching is. It's teaching."
But there are relatively few openings for a professional coach in Australian rugby and, as there's also a desire to learn and travel, so McGahan went to the IBM club in Japan for a year as head coach.
A la Arsene Wenger's year in Japanese football, Japan was an excellent stepping stone and experience for McGahan. Despite the sprinkling of imports, mostly Kiwis, in his and other squads, he had to become very detailed in his preparation to get his message across given the language barrier. "But rugby terminology is universal. Demonstration was a big key; the progression of things had to be spot on and patience was a big key as well because the language was definitely a challenge."
Asked to put the standards in an Irish context, he said: "I think the top three or four sides would certainly challenge the bottom Magners League sides."
Eager to work with one of the world's top club, he was fortunate that his manager was in Ireland in December '05 at the point when Graham Steadman had moved from Munster to Ireland. He flew over in January for an interview and three days later was asked to hop aboard the good ship Munster. Not bad timing either, as it meant sailing along on the last, four-and-a-half-month leg of Munster's search for their Holy Grail. "I was lucky, I was like a lucky charm so to speak."
Having tasted that winning experience, and the joyous celebrations, like the players and everyone else, McGahan wants it again, not least after the tough route they've taken to get this far. "You couldn't have written the script any harder. It'll certainly be well earned, put it that way. But I suppose the feeling at the moment is, because we've battled so hard we can't waste all the good work. We need to make sure we harness all that work and nervousness not to waste that opportunity against Saracens."
If the quarter-final was a job well done by all concerned, now it has to be replicated. From a defensive perspective, McGahan has to ensure that his players are not surprised by events unfolding on the pitch, and have the inner knowledge not only that the system is in place but they have the inner belief it will earn them a win.
All of this is played out to the backdrop of the vacancy/vacuum with the Irish team which McGahan is on record as saying, quite forcibly, should be filled by Kidney. Conceivably, a by-product of Kidney becoming Irish coach could be the little known McGahan becoming part of the Irish back-up staff. He hasn't had time to consider this, but whatever the future holds is to some degree out of his control and he accepts that. He and Libby are quite happy to roll along on the nomadic existence of a specialist coach, all the more so in the environs of Munster. "There's no time limit. All things being equal, we'll certainly be here for a little bit longer."
Libby gave birth to twins, Joe and Sam, in January of last year and they'll return to Brisbane for four or five weeks "hopefully after the 26th of May", he chuckles, in reference to the Heineken Cup final. "To win a second one in three years would be something special."
All in all, it seems a good life. Limerick is different from Brisbane or Tokyo he notes, but as he says himself: "You could be anywhere in the world and if the people aren't good, you may as well be nowhere."
