Munster – Stuck In Gear

Munster have today announced that Anthony Foley has agreed a one year extension to his current deal that ends at the conclusion of the current campaign. Munster will now step up their pursuit of a Director Of Rugby to start his work next season.  What does this mean for Munster in the short and long term one wonders…

The big question from today’s announcement is who will be given the DOR role in tandem with Foley ?? It has been rumoured that Todd Blackadder the Crusaders Head Coach will be given the job other names mentioned are Conor O Shea and Michael Bradley , both of which are also live options as one will leave his Harlequins post at the end of the year and Michael Bradley was an advisor to Georgia at the 2015 World Cup.

Munster with the announcement today have at least ended speculation about the future of Foley who it had been rumoured in the last 6 weeks or so that there was a 1 year extension on the table which he was considering while Munster battled through the last few rounds of the Champions Cup which ended in elimination in January.

Foley’s time at the helm has so far underwhelmed both fans and pundits alike. Yes they made a Pro 12 final in which they were well beaten by Glasgow in Belfast in May 2015. Also in his time in charge Munster have failed to make it out of there Pools in successive seasons in Europe. This does not make for good reading when it comes to an end of season review meetings with the Munster Branch and IRFU.

The way Munster have played in his time in charge has also left a lot to be desired and with his assistants namely Brian Walsh , Mick O Driscoll , Ian Costello and Jerry Flannery a lot of questions have been asked as to how these men got into their roles.

Now a long process will begin to see who Munster can convince to take on the DOR role. The playing squad is decent if not spectacular and is very workmanlike in the way they do things. Over the two seasons in charge, Munster haven’t really settled on a centre partnership and have struggled to find a dominant out half that is capable of leading a team. Johnny Holland has looked committed in the few rare appearances he has made since returning from a long term injury.

Munster are now in the same position that Harlequins were in 2009 , in that they are a club with a proud history that is stuck in the mud at the moment and it needs a strong hand to lead them through the choppy waters that has been the recent season’s failures and begin the long process to rebuild a once mighty club. There is enough talent to work with it, it will just take the correct man to take a firm grip of the current situation and get the club playing with the passion and desire that they are famed for.

Let’s just hope that this decision to appoint a Director Of Rugby works because the Munster faithful have grown impatient in recent seasons and that anger will not dissipate unless the team’s fortunes improve on the field of play….

By

Cian Mc Gibney

15/03/2016