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Can Paul O'Connell and Mike Prendergast succeed at Stade Francais?

Alan Quinlan thinks Paul O'Connell will settle quicker in Paris with Mike Prendergast as part of ...



Can Paul O'Connell and Mik...
Videos

Can Paul O'Connell and Mike Prendergast succeed at Stade Francais?

Alan Quinlan thinks Paul O'Connell will settle quicker in Paris with Mike Prendergast as part of the coaching set-up at Stade Francais.

He joined Monday's OTBAM after they beat Perpignan 45-16 at the weekend and speaking to Ger about the former Ireland captain, he said: "I think it's great to see it...I think he'd regret it if he didn't give it a crack and this opportunity presented itself.

"Mike Prendergast is there, who has done remarkably well in France in the last number of years with clubs who have struggled with budgets and stuff like that. 

"Mike Prendergast was in Grenoble for a couple of years with Bernard Jackman who gave him the opportunity there and they work great together - had a fair bit of success in keeping Grenoble up because you have to realise that budgets there are massive and when you don't have a big budget, it's kind of like the Premiership where you have the top four or five or six and then everyone else is scrambling. 

"They got relegated two years ago and he went to Onnayax - he stayed with them for a season and he got this opportunity. They got relegated last year, I know it sounds bad but again it's a budgets issue.

"They got promoted the year before and I think Onnayax in their matches last year - they kind of captured the imagination if people watching last year. They would be scoring 25, 30, 35 points and getting beaten by a score or two and he was the attack coach with Onnayax. 

"So, their attack was getting loads of complements and he got an opportunity to go to Stade with Heyneke Meyer and I think it was a great chance for him and it happened towards the end of last season and Paul wasn't in the equation at this stage so I think it was a brilliant opportunity for Mike to go to Paris and actually when you're scrambling with a team and when you're working with no budget - now there's a bit more pressure on him and he's got a budget and he's got star players. 

"So it'll be great to see how he goes now. I think he's a brilliant coach."

Listen back to Monday's OTBAM Podcast here:

Can Paul O'Connell and Mike Prendergast succeed at Stade Francais?

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

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