Foley goes to head of queue

Whether he intended to or not, Anthony Foley publicly kick-started the great Munster coaching succession race yesterday as the province confirmed the departure of present incumbent Tony McGahan at the end of this season.

While Munster branch officials are understood to have launched their search for a new director of coaching more than a week ago, yesterday’s confirmation that McGahan would be quitting the province after more than seven years, the last four seasons as the head man, sparked a metaphorical blizzard of hats being thrown into the ring from all directions.

A shortlist of successors to McGahan, who is strongly believed to be heading back to his native Australia to become the national team’s defence coach under Robbie Deans, grew longer by the hour yesterday in response to the revelations.