Everyone knew that Eddie O’Sullivan was in the hunt for a new job in rugby, but few would have expected it to be in Cyprus, hardly a rugby stronghold.
Apart from some punditry work, the former Ireland coach hasn’t worked in rugby since his departure from the US Eagles in late 2011, while he was known to be upset that he wasn’t even interviewed for the Connacht job after Eric Elwood announced that he would be calling it quits at the end of this season.
According to ESPN Scrum, Eddie is back in the game having been hired to help out with the Cypriot rugby team, who may not be prominent in rugby circles but who could set a world record for successive test wins (18) if they manage to beat Bulgaria in Division 2C of the FIRA/AER Championships today.
Forget Ireland v Italy, surely the eyes of the rugby world will be tuned into that hotly-anticipated contest!
President of the Cypriot Rugby Federation Laurence Vasiliades said: “Andreas (Cypriot Rugby Federation secretary, Andreas Iounnou) put this proposition regarding Eddie O’Sullivan to me, which at first seemed too good to be true, but it’s not, and here he is.
“Eddie is deeply committed to supporting emerging rugby nations and has volunteered to work alongside our coaching staff to prepare us for our World-Cup play-offs and watch over our progress.”
We’re not sure how the Cypriot players will react when O’Sullivan throws some of his famous Eddie-isms their way – you can’t put ketchup in your cornflakes etc. (that one is courtesy of Gift Grub) – but it sounds like an exciting role and we wish him all the best.
Who knows, he might even sort out the banking crisis while he’s down there.
UPDATE: According to RTE Sport, O’Sullivan has denied reports that he will take up the role in Cyprus, saying they are totally untrue and erroneous.
