Gafyn Cooper, a Welshman from Mountain Ash, now serves as team operations manager at Leinster, where he oversees logistics for a squad packed with Ireland internationals and British and Irish Lions. After 13 seasons at Cardiff, he moved to Dublin in January 2025 and has found the role demanding but rewarding.
Managing the off-pitch operation
Cooper's responsibilities include flights, hotel accommodation, training pitches, gyms, media access, staff and team meals, as well as liaising with hotels and security on tours. He recently travelled to South Africa with 41 players and 16 staff, taking returning internationals on the tour to integrate them back into Leinster ahead of the Champions Cup.
"My responsibility there is making sure everything is right off the pitch. That's flights, hotel accommodation, training pitches, gyms, media access, staff and team meals, team activities on the down days, while also liaising with the hotels and security in South Africa," he told WalesOnline.
He also handles European registration, putting together the squad of 42, uploading the team into the competition portal, and managing scheduling and timings through the training week and on game day. His role extends to liaising with commercial and marketing teams so non-match-day squad members are in front of sponsors and fans, and ensuring players' families are looked after before and after games.
Handling player welfare and discipline
Cooper often finds solutions when players' circumstances change unexpectedly, such as getting someone home for family reasons, rearranging flights, or ensuring an injured player can begin rehabilitation back in Dublin. He noted that players with personal issues will come to speak to him for help.
He also managed the Tadhg Furlong citing after the Munster game, describing the administration work involved in a disciplinary case as huge. "Thankfully, it worked out this time, but they don't always go your way!" he said.
A career built in Welsh rugby
Born in Mountain Ash, with Abercynon as his rugby club, Cooper initially considered a career in PE teaching at UWIC, now Cardiff Metropolitan University. He took coaching qualifications and joined the WRU's development network in the late 1990s, working in Caerphilly, managing development officers, and helping establish academy pathways before becoming Cardiff RFC's team manager in 2006.
He stepped up to Cardiff Blues five years later, spending 13 seasons there before the move to Dublin. The opportunity arose after a conversation with Leinster's chief operating officer Guy Easterby, while Cooper was arranging paperwork for prop Ed Byrne's move from Leinster to Cardiff.
"I just got chatting to Guy and asked who was coming in," he said. "He said nobody, that they were advertising for the role, and it sparked something in me to think, you know what, I might go for that."
Leinster's provincial structure impresses
Cooper has been impressed by Leinster's identity and the connection between its professional players and the wider rugby community. Leinster operates as a provincial branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union, overseeing everything from schools and youth rugby to referees, community clubs and the professional team.
"It's like a mini union," he explains. "It's responsible for all the game in the province." He noted that every club in the province is connected to Leinster, with the whole club welcoming the team when they train at clubs. He described the facilities at clubs and schools in Ireland as "chalk and cheese" compared to Wales, with proper high-performance gyms and 3G pitches.
Leinster also puts players into All-Ireland League clubs whenever possible, including senior players like Max Deegan playing for Lansdowne during the autumn international period. This weekend, 30 players between senior and academy are playing AIL, keeping players match-fit while reinforcing ties to their clubs.
Cooper highlighted the work ethic of players like Gethin Jenkins, Sam Warburton and Leigh Halfpenny, noting the extra preparation, attention to recovery and constant search for marginal gains. "Gethin Jenkins was an eye-opener for me," he said. "The amount of work he'd do to make sure he was right for games was incredible."
His affection for Cardiff remains, with winning the European Challenge Cup in Bilbao standing out as the highlight of his 13 seasons. He also recalled a humorous moment before a Challenge Cup game in Montpellier when Jason Tovey called him saying his dog had eaten his passport.
Concerns for Welsh rugby
Cooper expressed concerns about Welsh rugby, citing financial problems and talk of mergers between regions. "I feel for the Welsh clubs at the moment. There was always a problem in Wales, and it was mainly financial," he said. He disagrees with reducing from four regions, arguing the talent is there across all four, and believes Welsh rugby needs to strengthen its connection with local communities and businesses.
He contrasted travel arrangements, noting that Leinster charters flights for performance and recovery, while in Wales, away games become two-day trips with lost training days. "They're all little things that add up. The sponsorship levels are way higher over here because there's more money, especially in Dublin, and that goes a hell of a long way to running a better organisation," he said.
Cooper has no immediate plans to return to Wales but hopes Welsh sides can challenge. "I just hope that, in terms of Welsh rugby, everybody over this part of the world wants to see Wales competing," he said. "It was great to see Cardiff get through to the last eight last year, and the Dragons getting to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup." For now, he remains embedded at Leinster, where the focus is on being successful.
