Stephen Larkham: Coach set to depart for Brumbies just as Munster work bearing fruit

Larkham, 47, will have completed three seasons as senior coach with responsibility for Munster’s attack when his deal expires

Stephen Larkham will return to the Brumbies as head coach, subject to what has been described in his native Australia as simply a “box-ticking exercise”, following his shock decision to quit Munster at the end of the season.

The former Wallabies World Cup winner will leave Limerick having turned down a two-year contract extension that has also been offered to head coach Johann van Graan and assistants Graham Rowntree and JP Ferreira.

Larkham, 47, will have completed three seasons as senior coach with responsibility for Munster’s attack when his deal expires. In a statement issued on Tuesday evening as the province continued preparations in Pretoria for the first of two games in South Africa when their United Rugby Champions campaign resumes against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, Larkham cited family reasons for his decision to return home and specifically the difficulties caused for his two daughters during the ongoing Covid pandemic.

Yet Larkham also mentioned job opportunities closer to home and nothing could come closer than the Brumbies, the Super Rugby team he played for in his hometown of Canberra under Eddie Jones and David Nucifora and then coached before moving into Test rugby with Australia in 2017.

The Australian newspaper on Wednesday reported that Larkham “will return to coach the Brumbies in 2023”, an appointment that will see him announced as Dan McKellar’s replacement “by Christmas” although the paper added the outgoing Munster assistant “must address the Brumbies board over the coming weeks before he is confirmed”.

McKellar was an assistant who was promoted to head coach when Larkham departed to join Michael Cheika’s Wallabies coaching ticket though that relationship lasted little more than a year before the former playmaker moved to another role at the Australian union.

When he arrived at Munster’s High Performance Centre in the summer of 2019, Larkham was succeeding Felix Jones, who had decided to quit at the end of the previous season alongside forwards coach Jerry Flannery, whom Rowntree replaced that November.

In his first media appearance as the province’s senior coach, Larkham referenced being convinced to join by van Graan but also alluded to the potential difficulties of moving his family across the world from Australia to Ireland.

“When someone obviously wants you that is an allure,” Larkham said in August 2019. “You are happy to go. I came over two months ago and had a bit of a look around with my daughter to make sure she was pretty comfortable. A big move for the family. She is 16 and my other daughter is 12, so complicated years for those girls.”

The Australian was succeeding in his mission to upskill Munster’s forwards, making them more comfortable with ball in hand and better able to integrate with the backs in attacking play while the entire squad has become better in-game decision-makers.

It has still not delivered a first trophy since 2011 and Munster were heavily criticised for their less than ambitious gameplan in last season’s PRO14 final when they were once again outmuscled and outplayed by arch-rivals Leinster, just as they had failed to fire in the previous campaign’s semi-final against the same opposition.

Yet when Munster have clicked in attack it has been joyous to behold and the supporters will hope to see more of the same not only before Larkham leaves but continuing in the same vein when a successor is appointed.