Connolly off to Rescue Toulon...

Connolly joins SBW at Toulon

November 2, 2008 - 10:21AM

Former Wallabies coach John Connolly has been hired by crisis-ridden Toulon, the French rugby union club of ex-NRL superstar Sonny Bill Williams.

The former Stade Francais and Australia boss has been invited by Toulon's millionaire owner Mourad Boudjellal to look into why the star-studded club are not living up to their potential.

The decision comes after Toulon's disappointing return to the elite division suffered another blow on Friday with a 42-20 hammering by Montauben.

It also follows the sacking of forwards coach Jean-Jacques Crenca last Monday, two days after a 21-17 defeat by Castres.

Boudjellal said then he was trying to "understand why things were not working" and would be hiring someone of international stature to help.

Connolly is expected to arrive in Toulon on Monday and will start talking to players and staff the following week.

Toulon now sit third last on the Top 14 table with just two wins from nine starts.

The big-spending newcomers conceded six tries to Montauben, including three to Fijian flier Vilimoni Delasau.

But Toulon coach Tana Umaga refused to accept that his days were numbered.

"This week has been difficult," conceded Umaga. "However, I believe we showed what we could do in the final 20 minutes.

Connolly joins SBW at Toulon - rugbyheaven.com.au

He's a good man for the job, certainly has a enviable track record at Club level.

Would love to know what is really going on there - throwing money at a problem rarely solves things but is you were to create a team wouldn't you buy Gregan, Umaga and the others they had last year - makes the whole marquee signing thing look stupid because there it really hasn't worked - people like Gregan do actually play to win not just count the dollars on the sideline.

Rumours, but I've read in a couple of different places that the owner is pretty hard to get along with and doesn't treat the players with a lot of respect. They may have made some big signings but Umaga had no track record as a coach. Gregan, Matfield and a few others have left. Sonny Bill is a Rugby League backrower with a dicky knee and the majority of players are the same ones who were in the second division last season. It's no great surprise they aren't setting the top 14 on fire.

connolly has the runs on the board as a coach in regards to the difference between him and umaga, but he'll also struggle. at the end of the day most of the players are there for the cash and onshort term (1&2 year) contracts.