All Change at Munster for Next Season

Rob Penney and Simon Mannix will both leave Munster at the end of this season after 2 years at the helm. Having struggled early on in their time at the club, there open style of play caused consternation early on and many pundits and supporters questioned how wise this open style of play was and why not stick to tradition and stick to the forward orientated game that had proved so successful in the early to mid-2000s.

But after a few months of trying to tweak the game plan and trying to play a game that seemed alien to most of the senior players, that saw the likes of O Connell and O Callaghan standing on the wing. But to Penney’s credit he seemed to bow to pressure and when they got to the knock out phase of the Heineken Cup where they faced Harlequins in The Stoop. This came one week after Munster were beaten 51-26 by Glasgow.

 What happened that day in London will go down in Munster history. After an early missed penalty, Munster went onto take control of the game and win by 18-12, This was the day in most people’s minds that old and new Munster combined to create that piece of history.

Next season in my opinion, will be one of change but it should be done with minimal fuss, two in and two out, Anthony Foley who is the current forwards coach should take on the main job if he wants it and if he does he will bring in his own coaching team.

So for now it is all eyes fixed on Cardiff Blues this weekend and that little matter of a home Heineken Cup quarter final against Toulouse.  As Penney said earlier he still has work to do with this group. So lets leave next season for now and focus on the here and now !!

By

Cian Mc Gibney 06-02-2014.