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Where are they now - Kevin Maggs

Kevin Maggs (Getty)

To have worked in a kitchen, done ground work for a civil engineering firm, been a director of rugby and a talent identification specialist for the world’s number four ranked nation you have to be a man of many talents.

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That’s before we even mention 70 caps for Ireland – including appearances at the 1999 and 2003 World Cups – and upwards of 250 games in the shirts of Bath and Bristol.

Kevin Maggs is a remarkable man who has packed more into his 47 years than most of us manage in a full lifetime. He also remains as full-on and direct in person as he was when crushing the ribs of his opposite no.12 in a typically thumping tackle in one of the world’s great stadiums.

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The Bristolian’s Premiership playing days came to an unhappy end more than a decade ago, but since then he has remained in the sport which has always been a big part of his life – albeit in some less visible roles.

“My playing career didn’t end how I wanted it to when I was released by Bristol,” he acknowledges.

“My whole world had fallen apart following my daughter’s leukaemia; it was a three-year battle and they paid me off perhaps because they thought it was all a bit of a distraction.

“When my daughter was going through better phases I worked at Rotherham with Craig West – I originally went in as a player with a view to also helping out with areas where there were gaps.

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“We did as good a job as we could in the circumstances considering the budget we had and managed to keep Rotherham in the Championship.

“I’d always wanted to go into coaching but making the move from being a player is a difficult one and in the end because of my situation I almost fell into it.

“That said, I still miss playing every day. I miss the ‘craic’ with the lads, being in the changing room and the competitive element of being in a high-performance environment day-in, day-out.

“People tell you they don’t miss any of it but I know I certainly do.”

Having started his career in the amateur era, Maggs knows plenty about earning a living outside professional sport, but describes himself as “incredibly lucky” to have spent his post-playing days working in rugby.

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“I originally played for Bristol’s first team as an amateur in the mid 1990’s while I was at college studying sport and exercise science,” he says.

“Alongside that I had all sorts of different jobs; my brother’s best mate was head chef in a restaurant so for a while I went there and worked in the kitchens in the holidays and I also worked for a civil engineering and groundworks firm before the game went professional in 1996.”

This time appears to have equipped Maggs with life skills in more ways than one.

During his time as director of rugby at Birmingham Moseley it would have been impossible to find a set of players more committed to their boss.

The old cliché says they would have run through a wall for him – but had they tried you suspect there would have been a Maggsy sized hole there ahead of them.

The world of semi-pro rugby is far from easy, but in Kevin Maggs Moseley had a man who was far from scared of getting his hands dirty.

On more than one occasion he slept in his office deep underneath the Billesley Common stand in order to save his cash-strapped club some travel expenses.

And when the Birmingham Mail’s rugby man called for his weekly team news update he was more than a little alarmed by Maggs’ request to call back “because I’m on the roof of the stand fixing a few loose slates.”

So how has Maggs spent his time since leaving Moseley in 2017? The man himself picks up the story…

“I’ve been in my current role around four years as a talent ID coach for the Irish RFU,” he says.

“I’m part of the high-performance unit based in the UK with a brief to identify players to play in and for Ireland.

“In particular we look at the under 18 to under 20 age range looking to give players the opportunity to take the same route that my career took thanks to my grand-father being from Limerick.

“Joe Lydon, Steve McGinnis and myself watch lads who are eligible on that basis, monitor their progress and hopefully provide opportunities for them to be part of the Ireland under age pathway.

“We try to educate the players about how they should be doing things and also provide support for them through their education which can involve finding ways for them to study and play in Ireland.

“I am currently mentoring a number of boys with their careers and assisting them to move things forward.

“I love the job and still being involved in rugby. In particular helping players with their journey to eventually being a professional player and maybe an international provides me with plenty of job satisfaction.”

If his work results in Ireland getting another Kevin Maggs, you suspect few will object.

 

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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