McGahan resolutely focused on Munster

Provincial trouble may be disappearing in the rear-view mirror and Test-match glory on the road in front of him but Tony McGahan will consider neither while there is still the job of leading Munster’s assault on two trophies over the next 10 weeks.

With a Heineken Cup quarter-final to prepare for and the resumption of Munster’s pursuit of a home RaboDirect Pro12 semi-final berth tomorrow night in Galway, reflections on a time in charge of a transitional period in the province’s rugby history will have to wait until the Australian completes his tenure as director of coaching at season’s end.

And while there is excitement ahead in the shape of a return home to a prestigious job as the Australian Rugby Union’s coaching coordinator, McGahan is determined to follow his players’ example when reacting to the news last month of his imminent departure and concentrate on the task at hand.

“We’ve had players leaving for the last three or four years and experienced players,” McGahan said. “Nothing really changes, it’s all about the group and the group stated at the beginning of the year what they wanted to achieve and how they wanted to represent the club and its supporters, and where they wanted to go.

“We’ve got news that Jerry Flannery’s leaving, Tomás O’Leary will be leaving at the end of the season, Lifiemi Mafi’s leaving at the end of the season, there’ll be other players that will be made aware they’re moving on for their own or for the club’s reasons.

“It’s a well-run organisation from Garrett [Fitzgerald, CEO] all the way down and so things will move along swiftly.”

McGahan described telling the players of his decision as a functional statement from a “pretty straight and up and down sort of person”.

“It wasn’t a big speech or call to arms or anything, just delivered in the normal process.”

Yet it was an announcement few coaches in the modern game get to make, particularly as McGahan’s tenure had been in such doubt in some quarters when Munster failed to reach the Heineken Cup knockout stages 14 months ago for the first time in 13 seasons.

The province quickly regrouped and finished the campaign as Magners League champions while McGahan’s credentials were further enhanced when Munster returned this season with senior players reinvigorated and new blood coursing through the team to deliver a whitewash of the European pool stages and secure top seeding in the Heineken Cup quarter-final draw. It certainly helped the resumé when the ARU came calling.

“It’s a job you would chase down or apply for,” he said. “I was asked to consider the position and I wouldn’t have considered going back as a specialised unit coach, whether it be defence or attack, so it’s a coaching coordinator’s role.

“I’ll run the whole training programme, both while the national side’s in Test-match mode from June to December and also run the programme and the players back in their provinces from January through to June.

“I’ll be [dealing with] the totality of the strength and conditioning, the medical, the rugby side of things, strategy etc. The review, preview of the game itself but also the individuals.

“It’s an exciting role to go back in there and the coaching side of it is one I’m very keen to continue but also there’s a strong administrative side of the programme so, coupled with that and the opportunity to go back to Australia with a young family and all those facets, I suppose you always want to make sure that you leave the party at the right time.

“We thought we’d done a lot of work here and the opportunity to go forward here was exceptionally strong. I’ve had wonderful support from Garrett and the board. We’ve seen good times and rocky times and they’ve been a tremendous support so it wasn’t a case of choosing one over the other, it’s all about opportunity.

“In the coaching profession you don’t always get the opportunity to leave when you would like to but this opportunity was too good to turn down at this point in time.”