Howlett’s Munster mission

Lost amid the post mortems of Munster’s Aviva Stadium victory over Leinster last Saturday was the no-fanfare return pitchside of a former great when the ‘A’ teams faced off earlier that afternoon.

Doug Howlett spent six years terrorising defences with Munster before retiring in 2012 and now he is once again frequenting the whitewash – though the far side of it – as a member of Mick O’Driscoll’s ‘A’ team coaching brains trust.

“Mick O’Driscoll is the head coach and Greig Oliver is the backs coach and I sort of oversee and add comments where I see fit,” said the All Black legend yesterday as he helped launch AIG’s new rugby safety campaign. “It’s great because it is working with the youth of the Munster region and it is something I am quite passionate abut. That’s where a lot of the learning is done, at that stage, and it’s where I feel I can add the most.”