New captain Declan Danaher reveals six players will run the London Irish ship

Declan Danaher, after 13 years at Irish, was the obvious choice to captain the Exiles next term but the flanker has revealed that it will be a gang of six who run the show.
Danaher will be sharing the load with Irish pair Tomas O’Leary and Ian Humphreys, England duo Alex Corbisiero and Shane Geraghty plus former All Black Bryn Evans.
Returning director of rugby Brian Smith has given each a specific role to look after, with Danaher the general on the pitch on game day.
And while an old expression about cooks and broth might spring to mind, the 32-year-old is confident that the innovative new approach will pay off on the field.
He said: “There are six of us in a leadership group – and I’ve had people telling me already it’s not going to work but I don’t know how they can say that.
“Smithy’s come in with a set idea, and I think it’s very clever. When you’re on the field, one guy leads and talks to the ref, but he gets ideas from other people and spreads them through the team.
“If something’s going wrong, you fix it and that’s the idea with the leadership group. Bryn’s going to look after lineouts, Alex, when he’s fit, is going to look after scrums, Ian and Shane are going to look after our attacking style of rugby and Tomas is going to look after defence.
“When we’re on the field these guys’ leadership instincts are going to come out anyway.
“Tomas knows his game and if he wants something done a certain way he’s going to let people know it, at the same time he’s not going come in and tell the boys how to scrummage.
“When I’m on the field, I’ll be speaking to the refs and speaking to the boys when it comes to game day, but no matter who’s in charge, most of the work’s done during the week.
“An hour or two before kick-off it’s the individual’s responsibility to be up for the game and the captain’s job to point people in the right direction.”
With Mike Catt, Seilala Mapusua and Bob Casey among those to have skippered the club in recent years Danaher has plenty to live up to. But while he admits that Irish will need to improve their discipline if they are to improve on last season’s seventh-place finish, he insists the Exiles will not be pushed around by anyone.
He added: “On the field I’ll get stuck in, that’s my way, you never want to take a backward step.
“I’m not going to change my style of rugby, that’s just the way I am, but at the same time I’m probably going to have to be a little bit more level-headed now.
“Last year we did have discipline issues, and it’s a fine line – but as a captain you’re probably better off staying out of that stuff.
“You want to set an example to the young guys.
“That’s not to say you take a backwards step but it’s a balance and for me it will probably take a little getting used to find it.”
ADAM KNIGHT