Easterby appointed Ulster interim coach
THE Scarlets are set to face a familiar face in Europe next season after former head coach and captain Simon Easterby was installed as an interim coach at Ulster.
Easterby left the Scarlets in 2014, where he was replaced by Wayne Pivac, to take up a position as forwards coach with Joe Schmidt’s Ireland squad.
But he could now be trying to plot his old side’s demise as the Guinness PRO14 rivals are set to meet in next season’s Heineken Champions Cup.
Easterby will provide coaching support at the Kingspan in the period before the arrival of new head coach Dan McFarland, who is currently one of Gregor Townsend’s assistants with the Scotland national team.
Easterby started working with the squad this week.
McFarland was announced as the successor to Kiwi Jono Gibbes in April on a three-year deal, but the Scotland Rugby Union are insisting that he sees out his contract, which comes to an end in January, just after the end of Europe’s pool stages.
Ulster and the Ireland Rugby Football Union are hopeful of negotiating an early release for McFarland, but if they don’t manage that, then it could be that Easterby takes the reins.
The 65-times-capped flanker will link up with his former Scarlets team-mate Dwayne Peel, who is the Irish province’s attack coach.
And if Easterby does go up against the Scarlets, he will pit his coaching wits against his good friend Stephen Jones, who was best man at his wedding.
Easterby made 180 appearances in a Scarlets jersey, captaining them to the semi-finals of Europe in 2007.
After a stint as defence coach, he took up the coaching reins in 2012 following the departure of Nigel Davies to Gloucester.
He linked up with Ireland in 2014 and has played an integral role in the side’s stunning year which saw Schmidt’s men claim a Six Nations Grand Slam and beat Australia in a gripping series Down Under to cement their position as the second-ranked side in the world.
Leicester and Racing 92 make up the rest of the Scarlets’ European pool.