Former Ireland captain Paul O’Connell has been announced as Stade Francais’ forwards coach for the upcoming season.
O’Connell made his foray into professional coaching earlier this year when he assisted Noel McNamara with the Ireland U20s but he will now make the move to Paris to coach alongside former Springboks head coach Heyneke Meyer.
The club confirmed the hire with a short video on their official Twitter account.
✍☘ Le @SFParisRugby est fier d’annoncer l'arrivée de @Paul_OConnell au poste d'entraineur des avants (spécialiste de la touche). Welcome to Paris Paul !#PinkArmy #TousParisiens #OConnellEstRose #WelcomePaul #SFParis pic.twitter.com/x2os7SSqVb
— Stade Français Paris (@SFParisRugby) August 3, 2018
“The @ SFParisRugby is proud to announce the arrival of @ Paul_OConnell to the position of Head Coach (Key Specialist). Welcome to Paris Paul!,” the tweet read.
Stade finished in a disappointing 12 place last season but Meyer said he has a vision of turning the Parisian club into one of the greatest club teams in the world.
“I never make promises that I can’t keep, I like to under-promise and over-deliver,” said Meyer at his unveiling in Paris earlier this year.
“When I had a meeting with Doctor Wild I said to him I don’t want to go into rugby or a team if I can’t have the same vision to build the best team in the world.”
