THE DRAGONS HAVE parted company with head coach Bernard Jackman this morning, according to widespread reports.
Having signed a three-year deal with the Welsh side in June 2017, the ex-Ireland hooker’s time at Rodney Parade is over 18 months into his contract.
The news is expected to be confirmed by the Dragons this morning.
42-year-old Jackman, who spent his playing days at Connacht and Leinster, arrived from French outfit Grenoble to take over from Kingsley Jones and won two Pro14 matches in first season.
However, the Newport-based club are second from bottom in Conference B this year thanks to three wins and seven defeats, while they sit third in Pool One of the European Challenge Cup after one win two losses.
Jackman’s final game in charge was the defeat to Northampton Saints last Saturday.
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Never good to see an Irish coach sacked but the Dragons weren’t getting the results through Jackman.
While talk of a three year plan bought him time last season after a very poor 2017/18 season, he was expected to be showing more progress by now having invested a lot of money in new players and coaches.
This could be the end of the road for Jackman as a head coach in professional rugby now, which is a shame because he gave an opportunity to a lot of Irish players and coaches. Players such as Chris Farrell at Grenoble, and coaches like Mike Prendergast who is now coaching at Stade Francais, owe him a lot for the foothold they got in pro rugby.
@EK: Maybe an academy role would suit Birch’s skill set better? Or an AIL scout?
@Xanadu Marmalade: Looking back at my comment, it was probably a bit harsh. There are plenty of teams outside of the PRO14 who could do with someone of Jackman’s experience as a head coach. Maybe a move back to France in the Pro D2 could rebuild his career.
I feel bad for him. But at the end of the day he was poor at Dragons, and an absolute disaster at Grenoble.
@David Hickey: poor at dragons definitely but I thought he did a decent job with no resources at Grenoble.
@Leo Erah: I getting relegated a decent job at Grenoble
@Fred McHugh: is
@Fredg McHugh: he got them promoted too
@BDEB: sorry as a forward coach
@Leo Erah: Grenoble had plenty of resources. There were 5 clubs in the Top 14 who had less resources than Grenoble.
He had a heavy hand in getting a decent Grenoble squad relegated and was ousted by a fan and player led revolt (according to l’Equipe). Regarding poor resources they are well supported (same average attendances as Munster) and of the 30 professional French teams their budget floats between the 5th and 10th highest in the country depending on the year.
With each year he was on the coach staff they finished with a lower points total in Top 14. 54, 53, 47 and then when he was made head coach they were relegated with 38 points. He was not head coach nor involved in the set up when they were promoted the following year.
His record that season as head coach was 5W-15L. After this he was let go of his 3 year (I believe) contract after 8 months when they were bottom. They then went 3W-1D-4L for the rest of the season and almost survived.
The positivity was Irish media spin. (“Sure isn’t he doing great things in France”). Same (to an extent) with O’Shea, we heard all about 2012 Quins but not a peep about the fall from graces back down to bottom half of the table in ’15 and ’16.
@David Hickey: My use of O’Shea at the end is also to stress my belief that he is by no means a bad coach. And in the right environment may thrive, but I reckon a back room job at an establishment is needed, not a fixer upper like Dragons.
@Leo Erah: he was a disaster at Grenoble
This seemed like a good fit for the dragons, a guy with a good balance of smarts and grunt, two things the dragons have been lacking. He made some good signings for them sound out seemed to be building.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see him (or Mike Ross) take over as scrum coach in Leinster if Fogs gets the Ireland gig after Feek leaves
@The Champ Champs: I think Jerry Flannery would be a great appointment for the Irish scrum coaching job, although he’s probably outgrown the role at Munster. Fogarty or Ross would also do a good job.
@EK: jackman in to replace the outgoing Lancaster? Could do worse than that!
@Jim Demps: hahahahaha Can I make myself any clearer?
@Jim Demps: Very funny Jim! Careful what you wish for….Leinster need good coaches to develop Munster’s next generation of hand-me-downs.
@Jim Demps: a straight swap
I agree with you EK giving other people the opportunity of playing and coaching but u have to get your own house well in order first if your spending club’s money u got to be making the right choices, head coach dont come around to often.
@John Ryan: Agree completely. He probably could have hired some more experienced coaches in the past to help his own development as Leo Cullen has done.
He could end up at Ulster too, Ulsters pack misfired under Dundon and only improved in the last few weeks. I would put that down to McFarland. Also, McFarland is another who’s CV would fit for Feeks job post RWC
@Nigel Quigley: wouldn’t disagree with McFarland being a fit for Feek but then you would question why he’d leave assistant job at Scotland to become an assistant within Ireland setup so soon. I don’t think it would match his ambitions. Hoping he stays at Ulster, he’s moving things in the right direction.
I wonder will his backroom team go too. He doesnt have a great track record as a coach.
@Brendan Grehan: He fired his defence coach a few weeks back so… not looking great for them either.
Connacht’s Jimmy Duffy is the most likely replacement for Greg Feek after the World Cup. Superior and longer record than either Flannery or Fogarty and as mentioned above I don’t think Dan McFarland (Duffy’s predecessor at Connacht as forwards coach) would want to leave the head honcho job at Ravenhill just yet.
@David Finn: Is Duffy a scrum specialist? I know he’s a forward coach but is scrummaging his area of expertise? We already have Easterby as the forwards coach. People are talking about Flannery and Fogarty because they have worked specifically as scrum coaches.