Aviva Premiership side the London Irish are continuing the revamp of their coaching set up and have recruited Nottingham Rugby Football Club Director of Rugby Glenn Delaney as their forwards coach for the upcoming season. Delaney, who spent seven years with Nottingham, will leave the club to join up with Shaun Edwards, who has already been named as the defense coach of The Exiles for the upcoming season. These appointments come in the wake of a reshuffle of the coaching setup at The Exiles under their Director of Rugby Brian Smith, who is looking to completely revamp the side that finished a disappointing seventh in the recently concluded season of the Aviva Premiership.
The 38 year old Delaney, who originally hails from New Zealand, played for the London Irish for four seasons between 2000 and 2003 at second row and was extremely popular with the fans and players alike. According to Smith, who spoke to the media after the announcement of the arrival of Delaney, it is great to have someone of the caliber of Delaney on board who has been a former player and knows the tradition and values of the club.
Mike Catt, the current backs coach of The Exiles, as well as head coach Toby Booth have already announced their intentions to leave the club, along with Neal Hatley, the coach of the academy and Justin Bishop, the defense coach. Delaney played for Nottingham as well before he joined the London Irish and when contacted, he stated that it would be difficult for him to say goodbye to the fans but it is an opportunity that he could not pass on.
All that needs to be seen now is with the appointment with new backroom staff, how far The Exiles manage to salvage their team and status.