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Mark McCall
Mark Conn McCall (born 29 November 1967) is an Irish professional rugby union coach and former player, who is the current director of rugby of Premiership Rugby club Saracens. He arrived as an assistant in 2009 and took charge of the first-team in 2011. He is considered one of the greatest club managers of all time,[citation needed] and holds the record for the most English championships won with six Premiership trophies. McCall also led Saracens to three European Rugby Champions Cup wins.
As a player, McCall was an inside centre and spent the majority of his career with Ulster. He was capped 13 times for the Ireland national team, making his debut against New Zealand on 30 May 1992 as a substitute.
Mark McCall was born on 29 November 1967 in Bangor, Northern Ireland. His father, Conn McCall, was a prominent sportsman, playing cricket for Ireland and rugby for Bangor, and serving as president of the Irish Cricket Union and co-president of the IRFU. Mark attended Bangor Grammar School, and played fly-half for their rugby team as they won two successive Ulster Schools' Cup finals in 1985 and 1986, excelling to the point of becoming captain of the first team.
Nicknamed "Smally", he played club rugby for Bangor, later for Dungannon, and representative rugby for Ulster, making his provincial debut in 1989. He made his debut for Ireland in the 1992 tour of New Zealand, and made occasional appearances before becoming a regular in the team in 1997 and 1998. In 1997 he was offered a full-time contract with Ulster, but turned it down to sign for London Irish. He returned to Ulster the following season, and was named captain by coach Harry Williams. However, he was forced to retire as a player at the age of 31 due to a prolapsed disc sustained while playing for Ulster against Glasgow in August 1998, and he was unable to participate in Ulster's 1998–99 Heineken Cup-winning campaign.
After a brief pause, post-retirement McCall started as a formal coach for both Ireland U21s and Ireland A as well as a deputy coach for Ulster. This converted to a full time position by 2001 and in 2004, with the departure of Alan Solomons he became Head Coach at Ulster. In 2006, McCall would take Ulster to victory in the Celtic Cup. Under his tutelage nine Ulster players played in the Irish team, the highest number since the game went professional. However, within 18 months, McCall handed his resignation with Ulster bottom of the Magners League and poor European performance.
McCall, along with friend and fellow Ulsterman Jeremy Davidson, joined a new coaching team being established at Castres after dismissals forced by a poor early start and team dissension. The new coaching setup's minimum target was to ensure a top-six finish (to guarantee Heineken Cup qualification), which was managed with a fifth-place finish.
McCall signed with Premiership Rugby side Saracens to join up with new coach Brendan Venter for the 09/10 season as first team coach; after Brendan Venter left midway through the 2010/2011 season he took charge as Director of Rugby, at the beginning of 2013 he renewed his contract until the end of 2015. In the 2010–11 season his team was unbeaten and went on to win the Premiership. In the 2012 season he managed them to go on to be the only English team to qualify for the Heineken Cup.
McCall, though he has appeared far less in the news than his predecessor, who was penalised several times for speaking against rugby's organising bodies, was notable in attacking the difficulties being faced by English teams within the Heineken Cup. He has also appeared in the news for his radical increasing of the rotation system at Saracens, despite occasional controversy, either on account of lost chances by Saracens or accusations that rotational policy undermines the sport. Although this seems to be successful for McCall.
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Mark McCall
Mark Conn McCall (born 29 November 1967) is an Irish professional rugby union coach and former player, who is the current director of rugby of Premiership Rugby club Saracens. He arrived as an assistant in 2009 and took charge of the first-team in 2011. He is considered one of the greatest club managers of all time,[citation needed] and holds the record for the most English championships won with six Premiership trophies. McCall also led Saracens to three European Rugby Champions Cup wins.
As a player, McCall was an inside centre and spent the majority of his career with Ulster. He was capped 13 times for the Ireland national team, making his debut against New Zealand on 30 May 1992 as a substitute.
Mark McCall was born on 29 November 1967 in Bangor, Northern Ireland. His father, Conn McCall, was a prominent sportsman, playing cricket for Ireland and rugby for Bangor, and serving as president of the Irish Cricket Union and co-president of the IRFU. Mark attended Bangor Grammar School, and played fly-half for their rugby team as they won two successive Ulster Schools' Cup finals in 1985 and 1986, excelling to the point of becoming captain of the first team.
Nicknamed "Smally", he played club rugby for Bangor, later for Dungannon, and representative rugby for Ulster, making his provincial debut in 1989. He made his debut for Ireland in the 1992 tour of New Zealand, and made occasional appearances before becoming a regular in the team in 1997 and 1998. In 1997 he was offered a full-time contract with Ulster, but turned it down to sign for London Irish. He returned to Ulster the following season, and was named captain by coach Harry Williams. However, he was forced to retire as a player at the age of 31 due to a prolapsed disc sustained while playing for Ulster against Glasgow in August 1998, and he was unable to participate in Ulster's 1998–99 Heineken Cup-winning campaign.
After a brief pause, post-retirement McCall started as a formal coach for both Ireland U21s and Ireland A as well as a deputy coach for Ulster. This converted to a full time position by 2001 and in 2004, with the departure of Alan Solomons he became Head Coach at Ulster. In 2006, McCall would take Ulster to victory in the Celtic Cup. Under his tutelage nine Ulster players played in the Irish team, the highest number since the game went professional. However, within 18 months, McCall handed his resignation with Ulster bottom of the Magners League and poor European performance.
McCall, along with friend and fellow Ulsterman Jeremy Davidson, joined a new coaching team being established at Castres after dismissals forced by a poor early start and team dissension. The new coaching setup's minimum target was to ensure a top-six finish (to guarantee Heineken Cup qualification), which was managed with a fifth-place finish.
McCall signed with Premiership Rugby side Saracens to join up with new coach Brendan Venter for the 09/10 season as first team coach; after Brendan Venter left midway through the 2010/2011 season he took charge as Director of Rugby, at the beginning of 2013 he renewed his contract until the end of 2015. In the 2010–11 season his team was unbeaten and went on to win the Premiership. In the 2012 season he managed them to go on to be the only English team to qualify for the Heineken Cup.
McCall, though he has appeared far less in the news than his predecessor, who was penalised several times for speaking against rugby's organising bodies, was notable in attacking the difficulties being faced by English teams within the Heineken Cup. He has also appeared in the news for his radical increasing of the rotation system at Saracens, despite occasional controversy, either on account of lost chances by Saracens or accusations that rotational policy undermines the sport. Although this seems to be successful for McCall.