Rob Penney rules out replacing Rassie Erasmus

Rob Penney has ruled out a return to Munster to succeed Rassie Erasmus as head coach, but said he would be open to coming back to the northern hemisphere, or Ireland, in the future.

Penney, who guided Munster to two European Cup semi-finals in his couple of seasons in charge of the Reds, said he has committed to the NTT Communications club in Japan for another two years and won’t be considering any offers until 2019.

The Munster players in this summer’s Irish tour to the USA and Japan brought Penney out to dinner in Tokyo last month just when it was emerging that Erasmus was returning to South Africa.