FORMER IRELAND INTERNATIONAL Conor O’Shea has signed a new contract with Harlequins, keeping him with the club until the end of the 2015/16 season.
The one-time Leinster fullback joined the Premiership outfit as Director of Rugby in 2010 and has enjoyed much success since, including a league title in 2012. The Irishman will continue in his current role for another three seasons at least.
There had been some speculation in Ireland that O’Shea was a possibility to take over the national team when Declan Kidney’s reign came to an end, but that never moved beyond the realm of rumour. The 43-year-old is highly committed to his project in London.
Still, there will always be a sense that O’Shea’s attacking coaching philosophy could be tempted back to Ireland at some stage. His excellence with Harlequins, demonstrated with four trophies since 2010, marks him out as one of the best Irish coaches employed in Europe at the moment.
Speaking about his pleasure at sealing a new deal with the club, O’Shea commented:
I am very privileged to be asked to continue as Director of Rugby at Harlequins and would like to thank the club’s owners and the board for this opportunity. Every day I go into the club I meet a group of coaches, players and support staff that wants to be the best they can be and wants to bring success to a club that belongs at the top of the game.
“We are ambitious to ensure that what we are building here is a lasting legacy, that we play rugby in a style that our supporters enjoy and is true to the tradition of this club, a club that will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2016.”
Harlequins have also tied coaching staff members John Kingston and Collin Osborne down until 2016.
Ain’t gonna happen anytime soon, unless they decide to match him up with Frankie in a number one contenders match and the winner fights him at UFC 200.
But that would really piss Edgar off, which would be hilarious actually.
I’m staying otta this one…
Aldo isn’t gracious in defeat, on the night or now and he’s still making excuses and threats to the UFC and McGregor. Let him stew.
A guy who’s undefeated for 10 years and champion as long as he is deserves a rematch. He got caught with one shot and knocked out, it happens in fights. The disrespect he is shown from Irish fans is embarrassing to be honest. If McGregor gets tagged in his first defence at 145 ye would all be screaming for an immediate rematch.
I agree Alan 100%. I’m delighted for Conor but Jose was a great champion and does deserve his rematch.
As much as there’s a McGregor bandwagon, theres also a big anti-Mcgregor bandwagon, who will latch onto half truths about his opponents… Aldo was a champion for 10 years becuase he fought in a weight class with very few other fighters for the first 5 and for the last 5 he barely ever fought… when was the last time he knocked anyone out? He was massively fussy about who he would fight, always picking fighters who were well below his ability and dodging the hard match ups. If truth be told, Conor was the first striking test he ever really faced in the UFC… He doesn’t deserve an immediate rematch because he has a history of pulling out of fights that didnt suit him.
So Ken Flo, Korean Zombie, Edgar were not hard match ups? Hominick took him to the brink as well. A great champ, and the only champ at 145. If Cain, Anderson etc get an immediate rematch, so should he
In fairness,who does he think he is,sayin he’s not goin to fight anyone else.he only fights once a yr anyway.think he’s still concussed after McGregor got a hold of him
UFC spent 18 months promoting Aldo vs McGregor. It would be very hard for them to promote it again for another 6 months after how the last fight finished. Especially as Aldo had no interest in promoting the 1st fight and left Mcgregor to do all the media work. As White said,aldo deserves a rematch after being such a dominant champion but the timing for that rematch wouldnt be right now. Let Mcgregor fight RDA and then he can fight Aldo/Edgar at UFC200 in july,but either way 1 of them aint gonna be happy.
It’s not surprising to be honest. Dana White is all about the $, he couldn’t give a toss about who deserves a rematch or who is next in line, whatever fight makes the most cash for the ufc ( ie. him and his business partners) is the fight that will be made. Hope mcgregor demands he gets his fair share, he pulls in way more ppv numbers then a lot of boxers but gets paid alot less then some of them.
He’s gotten his arse handed to him in record time already, is that not enough
One mistake in 10 years? Is that not a reason to give him another shot? Even after the first fight when they were waiting on the official announcement Conor himself was man enough to say they could do it again.
I think Dana is right though. Woukd be hard to promote that. It’s the fight game yes but equally ufc want to make money. The interest for that just isn’t there after last time. Maybe a year down the road might be better for all involved..