Getting Munster out of the red
Recently rebranded in a nod to the commercial realities of professional sport, it may now come down to the province’s loyal following in Cork and beyond to inspire the win over Edinburgh on Friday that should secure (though not guarantee) Munster’s tenure in the top echelon of European rugby next season.
Munster’s heroics against the tourists of New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa had reached legendary status even before Tom Kiernan’s men finally registered a first ever win over an overseas tourist when Australia were dispatched 11-8 in Musgrave Park in 1967. Legend has it that with Munster clinging on to that slender three-point lead, Kiernan, Munster’s captain that day, asked referee Roy Gilliland how much time was left. The official replied ‘It’s over’.
“Well if it’s over...” demanded Kiernan, “blow the f**king whistle.”
Musgrave Park would subsequently host two more historic victories for Munster over the touring Wallabies, 15-6 in 1981 and 22-19 in 1992. While Thomond Park will be forever associated with the landmark 12-0 win over New Zealand in 1978, the fact that the All Blacks salvaged a 3-3 draw, with a penalty at the death from the boot of their full back Trevor Morris, denied Musgrave Park witnessing that historic first five years earlier.
While beating Edinburgh on Friday would hardly register a ripple outside the province, one could argue a victory will be of far more importance to Munster rugby than any of those famous wins over Australia.
Right now, Munster need to regroup and put a full stop after what is proving a very challenging and demanding season. Reviewing matters with a place secured in next season’s Champions Cup draw will be a lot more palatable than an immediate future incorporating a season in the Challenge Cup.
Off the pitch, it could prove an equally significant week. The financial challenges facing Munster at present have been well documented with a budgeted loss of around €1.5m for the season set to rise to at least €2.3m when reported at the forthcoming agm of the Munster Branch.
The increased deficit comes as a consequence of falling attendances at many of the Guinness Pro 12 games, especially those running parallel to the World Cup last autumn. In addition, Munster’s loan on the redeveloped Thomond Park, despite a rescheduling of the payment structure two years ago, is currently eating up huge resources, as much as €800,000 per annum. Quite why there is such a rush to clear the stadium debt is a mystery but in appears that help may soon be at hand.
The IRFU, or more specifically its finance committee, under the scrupulous direction of chairman and former Lion Tom Grace, has finally recognised the financial challenges facing Munster at present are having a direct impact on the ability of the team to compete in an ever-changing European market. A non-competitive Munster side does nothing for the welfare of the national team and something has to be done.
Over the course of the next two day,s in a sequence of IRFU meetings in Dublin, next season’s operational budgets for the four provinces should be finalised. There are strong indications that Grace and his committee, at Munster’s instigation, will offer a cash injection of close to this season’s reported deficit, with very few onerous strings attached, to kick-start a revival in the provinces fortunes.
Leinster, Ulster, and Connacht are sure to fight their corner as, apparently, Munster aren’t the only province facing potential losses this season. Right now however, there is a recognition within the IRFU that Munster’s plight needs to be addressed for the good of the game in this country.
The week got off to a good start with the appointment of former Springbok Rassie Erasmus as Munster’s new director of rugby. Should the team match that welcome development with a win over Edinburgh and a place in the Champions Cup draw in June, then Erasmus will have a far stronger hand to play when it comes to recruitment.
The fact that the new man will be at the helm from the outset of the new season is also a welcome development. Initially it was feared that, with some of the potential candidates for the job tied up in a contract until the end of the southern hemisphere season in November, it could have been half way through next season before the new appointee could take up the reigns. That would only serve to waste another season in tackling the current issues facing Munster. It may also have played a part in Anthony Foley’s one-year contract extension.
Erasmus is a very respected figure in global coaching circles and his capture represents a bit of a coup for Munster. The fact that the IRFU’s high performance director David Nucifora and national coach Joe Schmidt both rate Erasmus highly was also a factor in his appointment.
All things being equal, he was seen as the natural successor to Heyneke Meyer as the new South African coach but the political narrative that impacts on all the key decisions in South African rugby at present decreed that the top job should go to Allister Coetzee instead. South Africa’s loss could yet prove to be Munster’s gain.
The biggest issue now however surrounds his working relationship with Foley. If the soundbites from Monday’s press conference in Limerick are anything to go by, this looks far from straight forward with Foley’s response when asked “how do you envisage working with Erasmus” eliciting a less than promising response - “we’ll see”.
The key issue here is the job description attaching to the appointment of Erasmus. His background and proven ability to put a team strategy and structure in place is crucial but it must be his strategy.
He is reputed to be excellent at analysing opposition and implementing a game plan to expose their weaknesses. On a broader scale he also has a track record as South African performance director in designing and implementing successful youth and academy development programmes.
Attracting such a high quality, proven performer into the Munster system represents a big step in the journey towards restoring the province to its former glories. Should the IRFU back this bold move further with some badly needed financial assistance, it would represent a great week’s work for the province’s beleaguered Professional Game Board.
Those developments must now be matched where it matters most, on the field of play. That’s why the clock needs to be rolled back on Friday night and a jam-packed Musgrave Park recaptures the atmosphere that contributed so handsomely to those memorable performances against Australia and New Zealand in the past.
Munster’s immediate future could well depend on it.
