Noel McNamara, on Player Development & How He Went from Coaching Schoolboy u13s to Siya Kolisi at The Sharks

Noel McNamara is the Attack & Backs coach for the Sharks in South Africa, and before that coached UCD in the All Ireland League, North Harbour in New Zealand’s Mitre 10, the Ireland under 18s, Ireland 20s, Leinster 20s, their A side and was also their academy manager before leaving to join the Sharks. In the pod talks about his unorthodox route to where he is today and what has helped him get there. 

Noel has played a huge role in bringing through a lot of the latest crop of senior Irish internationals and we talk a lot about player development, and what you can do to get to the next level.

We also chat about;

• Why he left Leinster & the IRFU to join the Sharks. 
• Challenges he’s faced while starting with the Sharks.
• Coaching Siya Kolisi, Lukhanyo Am & Makazole Mapimpi.
• The difference between coaching in Ireland & South Africa.
• How he has changed as a coach since he started out coaching schoolboy rugby in Clongowes.
• How his unorthodox route as a coach has been an asset.
• His relationship with failure.
• What he learned coaching provincial rugby in New Zealand.
• How Gareth Southgate used a used advisors with David Brailsford, Stuart Lancaster & Sue Barker when leading England to the final of Euro 2020.
• Visiting Willie Mullins horse yard and what he learned there around high performance, seeing the gold cup winning horses.
• The advantages of being a late developer.
• The importance of being curious. 
• Coaching with Paul O’Connell, Tana Umaga, JP Pietersen & Leo Cullen.
• What he believes makes a good coach.
• What he thinks Alex Ferguson, Jim Gavin & Brian Cody have in common, and what admires about them.
• What Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter told him helped their development as young players.
• What Jordan Larmour, James Ryan, Ross Byrne and Harry Byrne did differently, that he feels helped them get to where they are.

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