Nick Cain: Tom Who? can make a name for the Exiles

Tom CoventryTom 's appointment as the new coach of London Irish following the early departure of Brian Smith has probably prompted a round of head-scratching in clubhouses around the country, followed by the question, “Tom who?”.
However, a more detailed look at Coventry's track record suggests not only that the new owners at the Exiles have done their homework, but that the 48-year-old who is currently assistant coach with the Chiefs could be the next Kiwi coach to make a name for himself in the Northern Hemisphere.
Coventry comes from the same Waikato stable as and John Mitchell, both of whom were team-mates of his when he made 51 appearances as a backrow forward for the province from 1988-1995. During that era, as with the Chiefs of today, the “Mooloo Men” were a force to be reckoned with.
Among the notable scalps on the Waikato totem pole was that of the 1993 Lions (although Coventry did not make the line-up that day). They had been crowned National Provincial Champions the season before, during which Coventry scored a hat-trick of tries against Wellington, and they demolished the Lions dirt-trackers 38-10 in Hamilton. It is one of the worst performances by the touring side that I've witnessed, but that is to take nothing away from an outstanding Waikato pack.
After his club career was over Coventry went into teaching, and although his ambition was to coach at the top-level he found his path blocked by the likes of former Mitchell and Gatland.
He eventually got his big break into the senior coaching stratum in New Zealand when he took charge of Hawke's Bay in 2006. Coventry helped to transform them into a force in the land, reaching the NPC semi-finals, before being asked to join the Chiefs as an assistant coach in 2011.
That season he was also appointed as the forwards coach for their 2011 campaign, helping bring a rigour that saw them rattle before eventually bowing out.
Working at Waikato alongside David Rennie and New Zealand's 2011 World Cup winning assistant coach, Wayne Smith, he helped the Chiefs to land their 2012 and 2013 Super 15 titles, improving on an already impressive track-record.
Tom Coventry cartoonThis means there is not much flannel about this claim from Bob Casey, the recently retired lock, and now London Irish director: “He comes from the best rugby environment the world…it's a great coup for London Irish to secure a coach of Tom's calibre to lead our programme over the coming seasons.”
For his part, Coventry said that he was impressed by the significant investment put in by the new London Irish owners, a consortium of businessmen led by Mick Crossan. He was taken especially by the club's new state-of-the-art 63 acre training facility at Hazelwood, minutes away from their old Sunbury base in south-west London.
No sooner had Coventry's appointment been announced that it was revealed that he hoped to make All Black prop Ben Franks his first new signing at London Irish. Franks, who has 42 caps for New Zealand and can play either side of the scrum, is expected to join after the 2015 World Cup.
It is safe to assume that this will not be the only high-profile Kiwi player who will be imported by Coventry to strengthen what has become a sorely depleted Exiles squad over the last three seasons.
As the new coach put it: “It's good to have him (Franks) there – another Kiwi, and obviously a quality player, I'm looking forward to being involved with Ben.”
But what can the London Irish squad expect from a new boss alongside a few marquee signings, and maybe even some tactical pearls inherited from the likes of Wayne Smith?
Honest toil and buckets of sweat judging by this Coventry homily before the Chiefs Super 15 victory over the Brumbies 2012: “All we can ask is that we work hard and keep our standards high. I'm a great believer that if you do the preparation right, the results will come…”
Those results never really materialised for his Aussie predecessor, Brian Smith, whose early release on “compassionate grounds” and “family reasons” was probably hastened by the Irish securing a cast-iron guarantee of rugby next season following last weekend's 's victory over tail-enders London Welsh.
Smith will be returning Down Under with a comprehensive dossier on the Premiership, including detailed knowledge of all the players that will be picked by for the 2015 World Cup.
I find it hard to believe that the new Australian coach, Michael Cheika, will not bring former England backs coach Smith into the Wallaby fold in some capacity over the next few months, so that the intelligence he has gathered can be turned against their Red Rose pool rivals.
However, from an Exiles perspective it will be the dossier of rugby nous that their Waikato born-and-bred coach brings with him that matters most, and my hunch is that ‘Tom who' will have left an imprint on the Premiership before too long.

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