Derek O'Riordan steps down as Musselburgh head coach

03/24/2025 01:15 PM

DEREK O’RIORDAN will step down as head coach of Musselburgh at the end of the season after three years in the Stoneyhill hot-seat.

Having overseen ‘The Great Escape’ in his first year at the helm (when a heroic rearguard effort away to Glasgow Hawks in the final match of the campaign secured top-flight status the following season and condemned GHA to the drop), O’Riordan then guided the East Lothian club to its highest ever league finish of sixth place in the Premiership the following year.

This season has been a struggle on and off the pitch. As one of five Premiership clubs (including three likely play-off qualifiers) competing for players in the Edinburgh area, Musselburgh’s squad depth has been challenged by a significant injury list, and they will end the season bottom of the table, meaning relegation to National One.

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However, Musselburgh have earned plaudits for the resilience they have continued to show across the campaign, despite a couple of heavy defeats by former Super Series club sides, and O’Riordan moves on with the best wishes of the club’s hierarchy, who praised his efforts to produce a competitive Premiership team in almost impossible circumstances.

A statement issued by the Musselburgh Board said:

“Derek has been a massive asset to Musselburgh RFC over the course of his tenure and he leaves the club with nothing but our best wishes and gratitude. Derek is one of the most highly qualified rugby coaches in the club game in Scotland and we feel extremely lucky to have benefitted from his experience and professionalism over the last three years.

“Musselburgh RFC has a strong belief that paying players is not the best use of our resources, which continue to be prioritised to grow the game across all ages and abilities. This gave Derek and the coaching team an incredibly difficult task this season as the Premiership absorbed Super6 players and to some degree became a semi-professional league. Our President, Blair Stewart, has already gone on the record to say how proud he is of the players and coaching staff and their efforts this season.

“Under Derek's leadership we have built a strong coaching team; and we are in the final stages of putting together what we believe will be an exciting set up for next season. We look forward to announcing this in the coming weeks. We have a young and exciting squad of players and a strong pipeline of talent coming through our ranks. The future continues to look bright for Musselburgh RFC.

“We wish Derek all the best in his future endeavours; he'll always be welcome at Stoneyhill.”

O’Riordan said:

“The past three years have been some of the most memorable and enjoyable of my coaching career, despite some of the dark days we experienced this season. When I reflected on my time here a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of days like 'The Great Escape', winning the Bill McLaren Shield, our season of firsts and best evers, and seeing what it meant to several young men to take to the field for Musselburgh for the first time.

“It's sometimes easy to forget the human side of coaching and playing, but that sentiment isn't lost at Musselburgh. Presidents Blair Stewart and Brian Jardine showed tremendous care for me, my fellow coaches, and players over the past couple of years and the faith they put in me won't be forgotten. A club is it's people and there are some incredible people at Musselburgh.

“It's also really pleasing to have developed a strong coaching team that replaces me next season – a commitment I made when I sat with Grant Talac, Brian Jardine and Danny Owenson three years ago when discussing taking the helm here.

“I'd like to give my personal thanks to Blair and the Board for sticking with us in what was an incredibly difficult year this season; but the time is definitely right for me to take a wee break for the first time since 2009 when I first started coaching (a young Danny Owenson at Loretto).”

The Monday Bulletin (24th March): Gatland linked to Paris move and Ross uses his head

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