GLASGOW Warriors have announced that assistant coach Jason O’Halloran will leave the club at the end of the season. They have not specified where he is going, although a post in New Zealand or Australia is probable, and a departure was always on the cards once it was learned that head coach Dave Rennie was to depart.
New Zealander O’Halloran first came to Scotland as part of national coach Vern Cotter’s coaching team, then moved to Scotstoun after Cotter was replaced by then Glasgow coach Gregor Townsend. His departure in the summer will leave incoming head coach Danny Wilson a free hand to put together his own team of assistants.
“I have loved my time here,” O’Halloran said yesterday in a statement released by the Warriors. I cannot speak highly enough of this club and the great people involved in it.“With my family living back in New Zealand and the pull of being close to them I’ve decided to move on next summer. All of my focus until my departure is on ensuring that the club is challenging for silverware at the end of the season.”
Dave Rennie said: “Jason is a top man and is one of the best attack coaches in the world. His contribution to the development of players with Scotland and Glasgow over the last few seasons has been immense. He will be missed.”
Although he did not come to Scotland with Rennie, O’Halloran has always seemed a useful foil for his fellow-New-Zealander. But for whatever reason, his obvious deep understanding of the game has sometimes appeared, at least to outsiders, as an underused resource.
