Conor O’Shea calls time at Harlequins but remains coy over Italy job

O'Shea has been linked to the Azzurri job since last October

Harlequins' Conor O'Shea (Getty Images)

Conor O’Shea’s highly productive six-year stint as rugby director at Harlequins will reach its conclusion at the end of the season – a departure that should coincide with the Italy team’s unveiling of a new head coach. These two developments may well turn out to be connected.

If O’Shea, linked to the Azzurri job as long ago as last October, did not confirm his booking on a Rome-bound flight, he did not exactly pour cold water on the rumours that have been circulating since the end of the World Cup. “I don’t know what the next move is – we’ll see,” he said after serving notice of his intention to leave the Twickenham Stoop. “There’ll be plenty of opportunities and I’ll make that decision as and when. It may be made for me. Whether it’s Italy or not will be for them to consider, not me.”

The Irishman’s success in nursing Quins back to health after the trauma of the fake blood scandal in 2009 has reinforced O’Shea’s reputation as one of rugby’s most gifted and resourceful management figures. Under his stewardship, the Londoners have won a Premiership crown, along with European Challenge Cup and Anglo-Welsh Cup titles, generally with a team full of young, locally-produced, English-qualified players.

His announcement set hares running in all directions, with Stuart Lancaster, who lost his job as England head coach after the World Cup misfire, immediately tipped as a potential successor. Another member of the axed red-rose staff, the attacking skills specialist Mike Catt, was being linked with a possible role alongside O’Shea in Italy.

Meanwhile, the Azzurri incumbent, Jacques Brunel, named 10 uncapped newcomers in his final Six Nations squad after five years at the helm – a spell best described as “challenging”. Denied the services of a raft of first-choice players, including the outside-half Tommaso Allan and the lock Joshua Furno, he picked three Premiership-based players in the Exeter centre Michele Campagnaro, the Wasps prop Lorenzo Cittadini and the Leicester hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini.

Ireland also confirmed their squad for the forthcoming tournament, with the Ulster front-rower Rory Best taking on the captaincy. A number of big names were absent: the wing Tommy Bowe, the lock Iain Henderson and the flanker Peter O’Mahony will miss the competition through injury, while two props, Cian Healy and Mike Ross, are off-limits for the time being, as is the flanker Chris Henry.

Stuart McCloskey, the strong-running Ulster centre who has caught the eye in European Champions Cup rugby, was one of four uncapped inclusions, along with Connacht lock Ultan Dillane, Leinster open-side Josh van der Flier and former South Africa Under-20 captain and No 8 C J Stander.