Penney banking on Keatley to steer Munster through

As with all things, life goes on and with O’Gara embarking on a fledgling coaching career with Metro, Munster head coach Penney is blooding not one but two out-halves to fill the boots of the province’s record points scorer.

The first challenge of the post-O’Gara era comes in Limerick this weekend and having shared starting roles at 10 in the opening four games of the RaboDirect Pro12 campaign between Keatley, 26, and 20-year-old JJ Hanrahan, Penney has opted to hand the more experienced man the reins.

Keatley’s inclusion for the first meeting of the Irish provincial giants is one of 12 changes to the starting XV which saw off Newport Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park last Saturday to record a third win in four starts. Lock Paul O’Connell and full-back Felix Jones, both of whom returned to Munster action last weekend off the bench, make their first starts in the 6.45pm kick-off while Conor Murray is named on the bench as scrum-half back-up to Duncan Williams. Also on the bench is tighthead prop BJ Botha, who sustained a knee injury in pre-season.

It is at fly-half, though, that much attention will focus, particularly as Leinster begin a new era themselves following the exit of Jonathan Sexton.

O’Gara’s longevity and sustained success in the Munster 10 jersey makes his absence possibly more acute and Penney recognises the Corkman’s experience is impossible to replace.

“Having ROG about was a wonderful experience for me as a coach, just to be able to talk rugby stuff with him and pick his brain,” Penney said. “Now that’s he moved on, because he is such a dominating character and such an influential figure with Munster, it’s allowed both Ian and JJ to slip out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

“Thankfully they both grasped that really early on. There’ll still be some up and down periods in their early careers because 10’s such a difficult position to play but ROG has gone down a different pathway now and it’s great to see him having a role to play with a team like Racing Metro that has added some value.

“He’s not replaceable but what the two lads are endeavouring to do is create their own pathways and establish themselves as international class footballers, because that’s what you need to have to be successful at Heineken Cup level. In time, we’re really hopeful that both of them will get to that standard.”

For now, Keatley is the preferred choice, having already proven his worth to Penney as a reliable understudy to O’Gara during his first season as Munster boss.

“He’s done the job for us. He came in last year when Rog was away and did a great job. The match against Racing Metro at home [last January] when we needed a bonus-point win, he guided the team around beautifully.

“You want to build confidence into your squad by saying ‘look, you’ve done it for us in the past, you can do it again for us’. And they’ll either do it or they won’t and he knows JJ’s coming. But he deserves a good opportunity. He’s a very intelligent guy and he’s a really good leader amongst our team and he could step into the bigger shoes of international rugby probably, at 10. It’s not an easy job.

“But, as we’ve said all along, we’ve got to expose guys to playing opportunities because it’s the only way you get the growth. You can do what you want on the training track but it’s in the realities of the cauldron where all the learning takes place really.

“But Ian’s our starting 10 and he did a great job for us last year. We’re expecting similar things from him as we go forward now.”

Penney acknowledged Hanrahan’s considerable potential but stressed he was still new to the fly-half role having only converted from inside centre on the eve of the 2012 IRB Junior World Cup, a tournament in which he guided Ireland’s U20s to fifth place and was nominated for the IRB’s Junior Player of the Year award.

“It’s early days. He was a hurler first, then he went to Rockwell College and became a rugby player. I think initially he played a lot at 12 and when he played for Irish 20s initially he wasn’t going to be their 10, he was going to be their 12.

“Paddy Jackson got injured and all of a sudden he became the 10, so really we’re only talking 15 months ago. He’s a quick learner. It’s exciting. He’s a capable kid and he’s got a lot of self belief and all those mental fortitude attributes that you need your 10s to have because you don’t want them to be fragile. He’s got all that.”

MUNSTER (v Leinster): F Jones; K Earls, C Laulala, J Downey, S Zebo; I Keatley, D Williams; D Kilycoyne, M Sherry, S Archer; D Ryan, P O’Connell; P O’Mahony — capt, N Ronan, J Coughlan. Replacements: D Varley, J Cronin, BJ Botha, D O’Callaghan, CJ Stander, C Murray, JJ Hanrahan, D Hurley.