Denis Leamy urges Munster to aim high and go for Henry or White

Munster’s search for a director of rugby should aim as high as possible, starting with Graham Henry and Jake White, says provincial legend Denis Leamy.

The double Heineken Cup-winning back row believes the province he served with distinction from 2002-11 before injury cut short his career needs someone of the calibre and qualities of current England boss Eddie Jones to take the reins for next season and allow head coach Anthony Foley to do what he does best: coach players.

On Tuesday, Foley was handed a one-year contract extension to continue at the Munster helm for a third year having succeeded Rob Penney in 2014 but his responsibilities will be scaled back as the province seeks to instal a director of rugby over his head.

Heineken Rugby Club ambassador Leamy believes that should suit his former team-mate but wants Munster to think big, starting with World Cup-winning coaches and elder statesman Henry, who led the All Blacks to success in 2011 and South Africa’s White, who delivered for the 2007 Springboks. At least if the budget permits.

“I think you have to try and get the best possible guy that’s out there,” Leamy told the Irish Examiner.

“I’m not sure who that is but the names that come to mind are people like Eddie Jones. He’s not available but someone who’s equally highly-rated with his qualities is the way to go, maybe Graham Henry, that sort of guy.

“I don’t know if that’s realistic but a Graeme Henry or Jake White, they’re proven winners. The reality is, and I don’t really know what sort of budget is available, but the likelihood is that these guys probably aren’t affordable.”

Henry’s compatriot Todd Blackadder is the bookies’ favourite for the job when he steps down as Crusaders head coach and Leamy added: “He’s had a very successful career as a coach with Edinburgh and the Crusaders. He’s a guy I wouldn’t know a lot about but what I know is he would bring a lot of qualities and if it is Todd Blackadder there’d be no objections from my end.”

Far from eroding Foley’s influence as head coach, Leamy is convinced the new structure will free the former Munster captain to concentrate on his coaching strengths. “It’s an interesting one. It probably allows Axel to focus on the rugby and the real quality he brings. I’m not sure what’s expected of the modern day head coach but there’s probably a lot of logistics and things that don’t involve anything to with rugby. Axel is a great rugby man, a great rugby coach. I’ve seen him on the pitch and his sessions are physical and ask questions of players and I think players enjoy them.

“So this allows him to focus on what he’s good at. A director of rugby coming in and managing the day to day running of the club, the doctors and physios and everything that goes with the running of a franchise is probably a good thing.”

Foley, charged with getting Munster into as high a finishing as possible in the Pro12 over the next two months to try and guarantee Champions Cup rugby next season, certainly sounded energised by Tuesday’s developments, telling Newstalk: “It’s a very exciting time to be involved at Munster, we’ll have the one centre (in Limerick) next year and we’ve retained a lot of our top players, while we’ll have a different structure. From my point of view Munster is a good place to be.

“Ultimately it was straightforward enough but I wouldn’t be going into it if I didn’t feel I could contribute. So it was about making sure we can go forward and hopefully get back to the days when we filled Millennium Stadiums, stuff like that, winning trophies. It’s just around getting a structure and a process around that that makes sure this club can go forward.”

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