What will 'exciting' McNamara bring to Leinster?

After Noel McNamara's appointment to replace Leo Cullen at Leinster from next year, Hugo Keenan believes he is an "exciting" head coach. Noel McNamara helped guide Bordeaux Begles past Leinster in the Champions Cup final in May After much speculation, Noel McNamara has been handed the keys at Leinster to replace outgoing head coach Leo Cullen. McNamara is currently attacking coach at Bordeaux Begles, and helped to mastermind a dominating victory over Leinster in the Investec Champions Cup final in May. When he was announced, McNamara described the Leinster job as "one of the most prestigious roles in world rugby". But what will the 43-year-old bring to the Irish province when he takes over next year?

Ireland full-back Hugo Keenen has a long-standing relationship with McNamara, which goes back to when he was playing for UCD in the All-Ireland League, and he said it was "great news". The pair would have more interactions at Leinster when McNamara was working at the province as academy manager and Leinster A's head coach. After five years in Dublin, where he also coached Ireland's Under-20s to Grand Slam success in 2019, McNamara made the move to South Africa in 2021 to join the Sharks as attack and backs coach. From there, he joined Bordeaux in 2023 and has helped the French side to back-to-back