WEXFORD BOSS DARRAGH Egan has hailed the addition of former Ireland and Leinster rugby player Gordon D’Arcy to the county’s hurling setup.
D’Arcy has joined Wexford as a member of the backroom team, which also features Billy Walsh, the current USA boxing coach that formerly served in that role with Ireland.
Tipperary native Egan is in his first year as Wexford manager and saw his team at the weekend qualify for the Walsh Cup final next Saturday against Dublin in Croke Park.
The 35-year-old is pleased to be able to lean on experienced sporting figures like Walsh and D’Arcy.
“It’s vital for me number one, I was talking to Billy today again before the match and he’s just a huge support for me and for the players, that they will be working with him as the year progresses,” said Egan, when speaking to South-East Radio after Saturday’s game with Kilkenny.
“Gordon is with us on all match days, he has been absolutely brilliant with us. Very, very good for me. We have that conversation when I’m driving down on a Tuesday evening, we get a good 40 minutes or an hour conversation, just based on the previous weekend and stuff that we can work on.”
Egan outlined what D’Arcy has to offer their setup.
Wexford manager Darragh Egan.
Source: Ben Whitley/INPHO
“Look that man has been in dressing-rooms (in) some of the biggest days in Irish rugby and Lions rugby and so on, and he’s a good Wexford man. He really loves his hurling. He’s some brilliant kind of ideas for us and brilliant kind of match day tips and tricks for me. He’s imparting that information to us at the moment, so it’s great.
“Even pre-match and so on, Gordon would be keeping an eye on how warm-ups are going and things like that, some of the bits of information that he gives to me then, it’s real quirky stuff. It wouldn’t be run-of-the-mill GAA thinking but he’s looking at how the players are focused, what’s their application like in the warm-up.
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“Even in-game it’s not hurling information he’s giving, he’s giving body language information, he’s giving how the substitutes are preparing, are they watching, are they ready for the game, are they focused?
“He’s a great asset around the place and I think he’s working very well with the backroom, so hopefully he works very well for us throughout the year.”
– This article was first published on The42 today at 4.10pm
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