The desperately sad news of Paul McNaughton’s passing will resonate across rugby, football and Gaelic games after his unique playing career across all three sports, while Leinster, Irish and European rugby have also lost one of the most important management and administrative figures in the professional era.
Leinster wrote in a tribute to their former player, director of rugby and chairman: “Paul was inducted into the Leinster Rugby Hall of Fame in 2018 after a glittering career across many sporting codes, but in particular, for his contribution to Leinster and Irish rugby. He was the very definition of a sports man.”
As well as representing Leinster and Ireland in rugby, McNaughton also played football for Shelbourne and Bray Wanderers and had a stint with Wicklow’s senior Gaelic footballers while playing club football with Bray Emmets.
Playing for Wanderers on a Saturday and Shels on a Sunday was a common occurrence for him toward the end of his career, and 1975 was a particularly busy year for him as he played for Wanderers in a Leinster Senior Cup semi-final on a Saturday and then in a second FAI Cup final with Shels on the same weekend. A month later he played for Wicklow against Louth in the first round of the Leinster Championship at Croke Park.
To play all three sports at Lansdowne Road, Dalymount Park and Croke Park in the same season in the same month, never mind the same season, is a one-off achievement unlikely ever to be repeated.
McNaughton grew up in Little Bray and at both St Kevin’s primary school in Greystones, and then St Brendan’s in secondary school, he played Gaelic football and hurling, while he also played football for St Peter’s, in Bray.
It wasn’t until he attended Rockwell College in Tipperary that he began playing rugby and he would later captain Greystones RFC when he returned back home to Wicklow from boarding school.
He played with Dublin University FC, while studying economics in Trinity College, and his club career also included a stint with Wanderers RFC, during which time he won a Leinster Senior Cup and league title in 1973.
In football, he lined out with Bray Wanderers and Shelbourne, with whom he played in the Uefa Cup and two FAI Cup finals, in 1973 and 1975, where Shelbourne were runners-up, but shortly after that 1975 loss, he started to focus on his rugby and on Greystones.
This decision was soon rewarded with selection for Leinster and Ireland ‘A’ in 1977 and a full Ireland debut followed in February 1978 against Scotland in a 12-9 win in Lansdowne Road in the Five Nations Championship.
McNaughton won 15 caps for Ireland, including the famous 2-0 series win, playing outside Ollie Campbell in the Irish midfield in Australia in 1979, before emigration to Chicago in 1981 ended his international career.
He worked for the IDA (Ireland) in the United States before returning to Ireland to take up senior posts in finance at the Bank of Ireland and then Deutsche Bank. He left Deutsche Bank in 2004 after leading the sale of the bank’s global funds business before serving as a non-executive director for several investment companies.
He also resumed his club rugby career by playing with Greystones until his retirement, and also played Gaelic football with Éire Óg and football with Greystones United.
Declan Kidney was the first person to offer McNaughton a role in rugby after his retirement, as the Leinster team manager in 2004, and he remained in that role as well as becoming their director of rugby. An intelligent, forceful figure who didn’t tolerate “bs”, generally achieved what he set out to achieve and knew what Leinster needed. McNaughton was a key figure in the recruitment of Isa Nacewa, Rocky Elson and CJ van Der Linde which helped Michael Cheika guide Leinster to their breakthrough 2008-2009 Heineken Cup triumph.
When Kidney assumed the role of Irish head coach in 2008 he again came calling when offering McNaughton the position of team manager. McNaughton was a valued sounding board and influential figure off the pitch, helping Kidney to recruit Gert Smal and Les Kiss on to the coaching ticket which guided Ireland to their first Grand Slam since 1948 in that 2008-2009 season.
He remained Ireland team manager until 2011, and even in the then customary summer tour games between the Irish management and media, still looked effortlessly the best player on the pitch.
He then served as president of Greystones RFC and in 2018, he was welcomed by Leinster president, Niall Rynne into the Leinster Rugby Hall of Fame.
The Heineken Champions Cup organisers EPCR also paid tribute to McNaughton, who served both as its chairman and as a board director.
“Paul was a great supporter and friend of EPCR and a dedicated director who helped shape key moments in our organisation’s development. He was highly regarded by all who worked with him, and indeed knew him.
“Our thoughts are with his family, particularly his wife Jean and three sons, and his friends.”
The Leinster branch statement added: “Leinster Rugby, and indeed Irish rugby, has lost a dear friend in Paul McNaughton and our thoughts are with his friends and his family and in particular his wife, Jean, and his three sons, Conor, Cormac and Cian.”
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
