Tony Ward: Bradley putting himself in frame for Irish top job
There have been many satisfying Heineken Cup weekends for Irish rugby, but what transpired on Friday and Saturday was special. Yes, we are still awaiting a first 'four from four' qualification clean sweep in the competition but with Munster, Leinster and Ulster making it through to the last eight and Connacht taking the scalp of mighty Harlequins, it truly was a weekend to savour.
With Irish rugby at an all-time high, it is surely a bad idea for the IRFU to risk killing the goose that lays the golden eggs by imposing the controversial new Non-Ireland Eligible measures on the provinces?
Best leave well alone -- quite apart from the legal complexities outlined in these pages last week.
On field, we should be thoroughly proud of our four provinces, in terms of the quality as much as the results being churned out.
And all four play in a different way. I have never subscribed to this nonsense of a common style whereby all four provinces operate off the same principles, feeding into a national game plan.
You shape systems to suit players and not vice-versa. Tony McGahan, Joe Schmidt, Brian McLaughlin and Eric Elwood are doing their thing their way, with Declan Kidney the beneficiary.
And it extends beyond that. Harlequins under Conor O'Shea are having a magnificent season, irrespective of Friday's setback. O'Shea was magnanimous in defeat, Connacht (and their fans) magnificent on the night Heineken Cup rugby came of age in the west.
Meanwhile, Saracens under Mark McCall did what they had to do in Treviso, with the former Ulster player and assistant coach -- along with on-loan Munster scrum-half Peter Stringer -- adding to quarter-final interest beyond the big Irish three.
But in so many ways the story of the weekend and the achievement of the tournament to date came at Murrayfield.
Who would have predicted Edinburgh making it through to the last eight, let alone earning a home quarter-final?
Results that would have drifted away in the past are now falling on the right side under Michael Bradley, and Edinburgh have been achieving them with panache.
Like all coaches, Bradley has had his issues in the past. But, there's no question that he is where he is because of who he is rather than who he knows. He has proved his credentials on the rise up the coaching ladder.
His move to Edinburgh from Connacht was bold, but it was essential for the former Ireland scrum-half and captain to make his mark as a coach with ambition. He has, and how. His appointment -- he beat Eddie O'Sullivan to the job -- has proved an inspired decision from Edinburgh.
He is now on Ireland's coaching radar. And how encouraging it is to have a list of former Ireland players making their way on the coaching scene -- a list that includes Elwood, Anthony Foley, McCall, O'Shea and Bradley.
To that add Girvan Dempsey, Reggie Corrigan, Bernard Jackman and Eric Miller in the background at Leinster and there appears genuine grounds for optimism at last as regards indigenous coaching.
But back to Bradley. I first came across him when he was a 17-year-old playing for Pres Cork against St Munchin's in the early '80s.
By his own admission, he was never the slickest passer, but he was a natural leader, even at that tender age. He was controlled and measured in everything he did. Much like Conor Murray now, he seldom got ruffled.
That coolness in his personality perhaps lets him down when dealing with the media. He is not the all-singing, all-dancing, shout-your-mouth-off coach.
I believe a coach's shelf-life is limited. Players can only tolerate the same voice for so long. Yes, there is the odd exception -- think Guy Noves at Toulouse or Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
So Bradley's seven-year reign at Connacht was at least three too many, I feel. He was never really in the race for the top position at Munster when McGahan got the nod to succeed Kidney in 2008 (despite having an interview), but he is certainly a strong candidate to return 'home' when the Australian moves on.
Toulouse will be formidable opposition in in the last eight for Edinburgh's first ever home quarter-final, but Bradley has already made an impact.
Back to the home provinces, and if Munster produced the most extraordinary tour de force since blowing Perpignan away in 2010, Connacht provided the most welcome result as they ended their long losing streak -- and thoroughly deserved it was too.
And Ulster showed in running Clermont Auvergne so close on French soil that they are truly a force to be reckoned with. Their quarter-final trip to Thomond Park will be a mouth-watering encounter.
However, I have a major gripe here over a decision -- or lack of decision -- that surely influenced the result. English match officials Dave Pearson, David Rose and Roy Maybank failed to deal properly with the most extraordinary double professional foul committed by Clermont's former Leinster lock Nathan Hines on Pedrie Wannenburg and Stephen Ferris a few minutes before Ti'i Paulo's match-winning try.
Hines held back the Ulster duo, who were defending their own line, to allow a Clermont team-mate space to score. He was spotted, and the 'try' disallowed, but quite how referee Pearson -- having awarded the penalty against Hines -- desisted from following up with the most obvious yellow card beggars belief.
Hines should not have been on the pitch when Paulo did score. Had the Scotland and Lions forward been binned, Ulster might well have won.
- Tony Ward
Irish Independent
