Leinster academy coach Kieran Hallett had a stint in Super Rugby last year.
The Ireland U19s head coach, whose team face France this Wednesday afternoon in Belfast, has been working with Leinster’s academy since 2019 but he spent much of last year on loan to the Melbourne Rebels in Australia.
The placement in Melbourne was another step in a journey Hallett hopes will soon lead to a full-time role as a senior assistant coach, perhaps with Leinster as current attack coach Andrew Goodman gets set to join Ireland this summer. One of his grandfathers hailed from Fermoy in Cork and moved to the UK at the age of just 14, working in the Midlands mines before going into shoemaking.
“The first day I walked into Leinster, Johnny was there on a day off from the 2019 World Cup and he saw me and it was sort of, ‘What are you doing here?!’” says Hallett with a laugh. “I went in, was due to start the first pre-season game, and tore my hamstring the Thursday before we played,” says Hallett.
He loved his time in the Championship and has no regrets but feels that his experiences as a player have fed into his coaching. He was coaching from his early 20s and landed his first big role in his early 30s as a development officer for the Exeter Chiefs, combining that role with being the head coach for Plymouth.
“The fun part of our job when they leave school and come into the pre-academy where Griggsy and Trev are doing a great job at the moment, we get to push the needle to the other end. So off went Hallet, his wife Josie, and their kids, Hector and Cecily, for the adventure of a lifetime. Hector is only five now and still talks about Australia every day, while his dad learned plenty on the rugby front.
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