The curtain came down on O’Connor’s professional career last summer, the veteran lock bowing out after a memorable 13 years at Ulster during which he made 212 senior appearances and captained the province over 70 times.
His subsequent transition into coaching was seen as a natural step given, in his own words, how much he ‘enjoys rugby and helping people as well’. He had already started coaching locally at Ballymena Academy in recent seasons, taking up a role as the school’s Head of Rugby Development in August.
Living in Greenisland with his wife Danielle and their two-year-old son Cillian, with another baby on the way, the 33-year-old has also maintained close ties with Ballymena Rugby Club, lining out four times for them in this season’s Energia All-Ireland League before suffering a broken elbow against Banbridge in January.
It was the same month that his involvement in the Ireland Women’s set-up began, coming on board as their new forwards coach for the 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations. He was seen as an ideal replacement for Alex Codling, who had moved to Munster following last year’s Rugby World Cup.
Explaining how the appointment came about and how quickly it was firmed up, O’Connor said: “The principal (at Ballymena Academy) knows David Humphreys quite well, so I think they had a conversation and he asked me to come down to meet Scott (Bemand).
“So I actually met him up at one of the Applegreen stations, and we had a brief chat about a few bits and bobs, and a couple of weeks later then we got an offer through. Gillian McDarby from the IRFU then rang me and asked would I come in for the Six Nations.
“I came down in January time for a two-day camp, and I got a bit of a feel for what we could do, but Alex did a great job for the 18 months he was in, so I didn’t change too much.
“I’m looking to build on what’s already there in terms of the foundation that they’ve put in the past while. They’ve had some amazing wins in the past two years. In the World Cup, they were a successful lineout or two away from getting to a semi-final.
“They’ve built on that off the back of the Sevens programme, and they are trying to sign a lot more players to central contracts, and get more forwards to be involved in Ireland, which would be good for our overall game.”
After Bemand’s charges fell short against France in Clermont-Ferrand, O’Connor views this week as ‘massive for the whole group going forward’ as they aim to finish the 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations with a total of three home wins.
That should be enough for a third consecutive third place finish during Bemand’s reign, and a solid springboard into the reformatted WXV Global Series on home soil in the autumn, with fixtures against the USA and Japan set to be announced shortly.
Despite the 26-7 loss at hands of the French, the coaching team feels there is ‘plenty to be excited about and plenty to build on’, and converting more of their scoring chances will be key against a Wales team that crossed the whitewash four times against England.
“We had a good week last week, we trained twice. There was a lot of good from that French game, so we’re just building on that,” explained Skerries man O’Connor.
“The first half was really good. I think we got close to the line about twelve times, but we just weren’t clinical enough. So, building on that, we just need to be more clinical.
“I think we can maybe move the ball a bit more as a forward pack, maybe little short passes, get more short passes in.our game.
“Wales, their strengths would probably be the set-piece, good in the breakdown. So, we’ve got to make sure we’re on the money there. They got a bonus point against England. They scored four tries against the World champions, so fair play to them.
“Their half-time score against France was seven-all, just like ourselves. They’re definitely going in the right direction, and yeah, it’s our job to stop their momentum.”
The penultimate round of the Women’s Six Nations brings the former Ulster captain back to his old stomping ground, a place that means a lot to him both personally and professionally.
The girls in green have won three of their five matches at Affidea Stadium since 2022, getting the better of Scotland on two occasions and Australia, while providing a tough challenge for both France and Canada last year. They drew a crowd of 7,468 for the 2024 Six Nations victory over Scotland.
The lineout is sure to be hotly contested this weekend given that half of Ireland’s 12 tries in the current campaign has originated from the set-piece, while it has been the platform for all bar one of the eight Welsh tries so far. The Irish maul has been good, but O’Connor knows there is room for improvement.
“‘Codders’ did a lot of good work with the girls. The foundations that he put in in terms of lineouts, and even simple stuff like catch, footwork, jumping, so me coming off the back of that has been great.
“Yeah, the girls have really bought into it. We need to have weapons across our game, and the lineout maul is an easy one for me to come in and just like focus on that.
“The girls have really bought into it and gotten a few scores off it. It’s going in the right direction. Obviously I want it to be better.”
It will certainly be a proud moment for the Dubliner to coach a national team at his old provincial ground. Three rounds into the Six Nations, he is clearly enjoying working with this ambitious playing group, led by young captain Erin King, and his fellow coaches.
He has been able to put his own stamp on things, while also quickly forming strong working relationships with those around him, including Denis Fogarty, who is ‘doing a great job with the forwards as well, with all the contact stuff’, and James Scaysbrook, who is equally ‘doing a great job around defence – a great help’.
“I’ve loved it. The girls are great now. There’s a lot of passion for the badge and for the country. It’s great to be involved in that now.
“Me being involved with Ireland, it’s always been a dream of mine. So to be back down here (at the IRFU High Performance Centre) wearing a green shirt, even as a coach, is class for me.
“The girls love to have the craic, but when they come in, they work hard. They go flat out. They’ve got a lot of aspirations, and it’s really good to be part of a team that’s looking to grow every single time we take to the pitch.”
He added: “Hopefully we get a good crowd there (at Affidea Stadium). It’s always a good atmosphere up there, and the place is probably buzzing from the semi-final win (for Ulster in the Challenge Cup) too.
“We’ve had a good track record in terms of results the past while up there, so I’m looking forward to it.”