Interim Ireland rugby coach Simon Easterby's family life and marriage to TV presenter

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Simon Easterby is already a familiar face to many Irish rugby fans, but those tuning in to this year's Six Nations are about to hear a whole lot more from him.

Simon has stepped in as interim Ireland head coach while Andy Farrell is taking a sabbatical to focus on coaching this year's British and Irish Lions' summer tour of Australia.

This makes Simon in charge of the boys in green for this Six Nations campaign.

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The 49-year-old previously played for Ireland, amassing a total 65 caps between 2000 and 2008.

He has also held backroom roles under both Joe Schmidt and Andy Farrell's leaderships, but this role will be his biggest date.

In his personal life, Simon is married to Welsh TV presenter Sarra Elgan Rees. The couple married in 2013 and are parents to daughter Soffia, who was born in 2007, and son Ffredi, who came along in 2009.

Sarra has hosted rugby coverage for the likes of Sky Sports, ESPN, TNT Sports and BBC.

She is also an actress, having previously starred in popular Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm and appearing across children's TV shows on CBBC.

Sarra made her move into sports broadcasting in 2007 and anchored S4C's coverage of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

Despite both being involved in rugby, Simon and Sarra haven't crossed a lot of paths together in their respective careers.

But in 2023, Sarra recalled an awkward interview with her husband.

She told Wales Online: "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."