O’CALLAGHANS MILLS’ Noel McNamara has been appointed as the new Leinster Head Coach.
On Tuesday morning, Leinster Rugby and the IRFU confirmed that Noel would succeed Leo Cullen as Head Coach following the conclusion of the 2026/27 season.
Noel will take up the new role on 1st July 2027. He said, “I am delighted that I am returning to Leinster Rugby as Head Coach in 2027. This is one of the most prestigious roles in world rugby and it is an honour to be given this responsibility. I am very grateful to UBB and in particular Laurent Marti and Yannick Bru for supporting me in availing of this opportunity. We have a very exciting season ahead with UBB and I am fully focussed on that before moving back to Leinster next summer”.
His appointment comes seven years after he was made Academy Manager with Leinster Rugby, during his spell at the province he also served as Leinster A Head Coach.
In 2021, he moved to Durban in South Africa where he became attack and backs coach with The Sharks.
From here, Noel was appointed attack coach with Union Bourdeaux Beglés where he helped them deliver back to back European Championship wins.
With his country, McNamara was Head Coach of the Irish U20 side which won the Grand Slam in 2019, an achievement which resulted in him receiving a civic reception from Clare County Council in May 2019.
CEO of Leinster, Shane Nolan said of the appointment, “Noel has a long association with the club and emerged as our preferred candidate very early in the process. His transition into the role will be seamless and we look forward to welcoming him here next July after this season reaches its conclusion.”
Guy Easterby, Leinster COO stated, “Along with a number of key stakeholders we set out clear criteria when we began this process to try to ensure that we secured a Head Coach that combined a strong understanding of Leinster and Irish rugby with a track record of success. I believe that Noel is the right man to take on this responsibility from Leo and to build on the incredible job that he has done over the past 11 years as we continue to strive for excellence in everything we do. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank UBB President, Laurent Marti, and Head Coach, Yannick Bru, for their understanding and professionalism in dealing with this matter. I am also very grateful for the support of Shane Nolan, the Professional Games Board here in Leinster and IRFU Performance Director, David Humphreys throughout this process”.
IRFU Performance Director David Humprhreys said “Noel brings a wealth of coaching experience, strong leadership qualities and a proven track record of developing players and coaching successful teams. He has a deep understanding of Irish rugby and I’m looking forward to working with him to ensure Leinster’s continued success, while supporting the development of players for the Ireland national team”.
While studying as a final year PE and Maths student at UL, Noel began his rugby coaching career with Glenstal Abbey. From here, he spent eight years over Clongowes Wood in Kildare guiding them to two Leinster Senior Schools Cup titles. Noel joined the IRFU’s elite player pathway team in 2016 as a development officer at Leinster. He has coached both the Ireland and Leinster schools representative teams as well as Leinster U19s, U20s and Leinster A.
