Terenure Bring In Ex-All Black Spencer As New Head Coach
Terenure College won their first Energia All-Ireland League Men's Division 1A title in 2023, and also contested the 2022 and 2024 finals ©INPHO/Tom Maher
Terenure College RFC have piqued the interest of the rugby world by appointing former New Zealand out-half Carlos Spencer as head coach of the club’s senior Men’s squad on a three-year contract.
A statement from Terenure College Rugby Football Club confirmed that Spencer, who made 35 Test appearances for the All Blacks, will take charge of the team this summer ahead of the 2025/26 season.
The 49-year-old has a tough act to follow after Sean Skehan guided Terenure to their maiden Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Division 1A title in 2023, back-to-back Energia Bateman Cups, and two other Division 1A final appearances.
Skehan was the Ireland Club XV head coach and Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Coach of the Year in 2023/24, and it was announced recently that he will be part of the Wanderers coaching ticket for the 2025/26 campaign.
In Dubliner Skehan’s sixth and final season in charge at Lakelands Park, Terenure fell out of the running for the top four and finished sixth in the Division 1A table.
Known for his attacking flair and mercurial talent as a player, Spencer recently assisted the Blues Women’s team as backs coach as they retained the Super Rugby Aupiki crown. He has also worked as an assistant in Men’s Super Rugby with the Lions, the Sharks, and the Hurricanes.
In what is a major coup for the club, Will Moore, Terenure’s Chairman of Rugby, commented: “Carlos was the outstanding candidate following our recruitment process. We believe this is an ambitious and exciting appointment.
“Carlos will be welcomed warmly into the Terenure community, and everyone involved with our club is extremely excited to begin working with him, especially the players.
“We are confident that he will bring with him an incredible wealth of knowledge, experience, and skill from his professional playing and coaching career, and we are looking forward to the journey ahead.”
Of course, former Blues star Spencer is no stranger to these shores having played for Northampton Saints against both Leinster and Munster, as well as having a stint at Gloucester.
With his coaching CV including spells as a head coach at the Eastern Province Kings and the Munakata Sanix Blues, and as an assistant with Major League Rugby side New Orleans Gold, he is clearly excited about coaching in Ireland for the first time.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Terenure as head coach,” said Spencer. “It is a club with a proud history, passionate supporters, and a strong sense of community. I feel very lucky and honoured to now be a part of that.
“I look forward to meeting the players, coaches, and the rest of the management group, but most of all I’m looking forward to contributing on and off the field.
“I know it’s a club that sets very high standards, and I am ready to give everything that I have got.”
Terenure have also announced that the vastly-experienced Paul Barr is taking on the role of the club’s performance director. He will work closely with Ian ‘Moggy’ Morgan, their highly-regarded and long-standing director of rugby.
Barr has been director of coaching at Bandon RFC and Terenure in recent years, as well as coaching the Ireland Under-18 Schools team. As senior coach, he was also influential in Cork Constitution winning their sixth All-Ireland League title in 2019.