Inside Simon Easterby’s life with TV host wife ahead of him taking over from Andy Farrell as interim Ireland boss

SIMON EASTERBY is set to step into a far bigger public spotlight over the course of 2025.

Earlier this week the IRFU confirmed that from December 1 he will take charge in Andy Farrell’s stead as interim Ireland head coach.

Farrell is of course taking a sabbatical in order to focus fully on being head coach of The British and Irish Lions’ summer tour of Australia.

Not that Easterby isn’t a familiar name or face to Irish rugby fans as it is.

After all, the 49-year-old was a frequent presence in the Irish back-row over his playing career where he amassed 65 caps between 2000-2008.

But despite serving under Joe Schmidt and then Farrell across a variety of backroom roles since 2014, he has largely stayed in the shadows.

The same cannot be said of his wife Sarra Elgan Rees as she is a prominent sports presenter.

She’s fronted rugby coverage for giant TV stations such as Sky Sports. ESPN, TNT Sports and the BBC.

The Wales native made her first foray into television as an actress in a soap opera called Pobol y Cwm.

She had studied theatre, media and music in college and soon settled on straight broadcasting as opposed to pursuing acting further.

After initial roles across children’s TV on CBBC as well as singing for a Welsh language musical group entitled Cic, she made sports coverage her field in 2007.

Among her most noteworthy achievements as a host, she anchored S4C’s coverage of the 2023 World Cup in France.

For those unfamiliar with the channel is it essentially Wales’ equivalent of TG4 as it is a public service broadcaster specifically aimed at Welsh speakers.

Professional dealings with Simon:

Somewhat surprisingly, their paths haven’t crossed much on a professional basis.

However, in a 2023 interview with , she did recount how the first time they had to conduct an on-air chat went ‘awfully’.

She recalled: “I haven’t interviewed Simon for years, but I remember I interviewed him years ago when I was a reporter for S4C and Simon was still playing.

“We’re talking about 15 years ago. I remember being pitchside, Simon and Stephen Jones sitting in the stand, it was one of those roving interviews.

“I spoke to Steve like I would any other player, and I turned to Simon and it was almost like I’d never met him before in my life. It was awful!

“I’ve interviewed him since and it’s been a little bit less awkward but that was interesting.

“I think I’d be different now, years down the line. But I’d only just started doing it and it was really funny, very awkward.”