As dust settles on the news that Matt O'Connor and Leinster have parted ways, two questions come to mind.
Was it the right decision and who will replace him in the long run?
Former Leinster second row Trevor Hogan and the Irish Independent rugby correspondent Ruaidhri O'Connor joined us on Off The Ball to give their take on the situation as the complication of a World Cup looms in the Autumn.
"It's a real risk and I can't see someone being that eager to take on this job knowing that you're going to lose half your squad and your going to have to deal with this player management thing which ultimately seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Once you say a bad thing against that, the heats going to come on you fairly quickly," said Trevor, who described the decision to let O'Connor go as a "gamble" and feels history will be kinder to the Australian in the fullness of time.
Ruaidhri picked up on that point about player management vis a vis access to the international contingent at Leinster.
Clermont assistant coach Jono Gibbes ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
"The lesson in this is don't pick a fight with Joe Schmidt. Matt O'Connor always had Joe Schmidt hanging over him. Schmidt's record as Leinster coach was imperious and following him was always going to be very difficult and it was reminiscent of David Moyes taking over from Alex Ferguson minus the longevity and the problem was still dealing with Matt O'Connor's players on a regular basis and they were playing better for Joe Schmidt than they were for Matt O'Connor."
Ruaidhri gave us some background on the likely reasons for today's parting of the ways.
"The information I have is that Matt O'Connor was informed on Tuesday that he would be leaving at the end of the season. There's some suggestion today that he wasn't opposed to the idea - the Queenslands Reds job might be coming up in the next couple of weeks. I think it's very possible that he saw the writing on the wall and saw another opportunity. It has been very negative and it can't have been a nice place for him to work for the last couple of months," said Ruaidhri, who also described it as "almost a social media sacking" in the sense of where the most sustained criticism of O'Connor came from.
Trevor and Ruaidhri also looked at potential candidates including former Australia head coach Ewen McKenzie, Jono Gibbes and others amid the pressure of appointing someone in a short space of time.
Trevor also suggested that Leinster could go down the caretaker head coach route.
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