Peter O'Mahony admits coaching uncertainty 'not ideal'

The province have yet to name a successor to Johann van Graan who departs for Bath at the end of the season

Head coach Johann van Graan during Munster rugby squad training at University of Limerick. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Peter O’Mahony has admitted not knowing the identity of Munster’s head coach for next season is not ideal but has backed his team to stay focused on the business of winning matches in the final phase of this campaign.

It is 16 weeks since Johann van Graan confirmed he would not be seeking a new contract when his current contract expires this summer after five years at the helm in Munster, and assistant coaches Stephen Larkham and JP Ferreira have also announced their decisions to leave. Defence coach Ferreira will follow fellow South African van Graan to Bath in the English Premiership while senior coach Larkham is returning home to Australia to take over as head coach of his hometown Brumbies in Canberra.

Of the current Munster coaching ticket, only Graham Rowntree will be around next season and the former England and Lions assistant has made it plain he has applied for the impending head coach vacancy but will remain in charge of the forwards if unsuccessful.

Nor has it been confirmed whether Munster will return, as been suggested, to a director of rugby model, with that position created for Rassie Erasmus ahead of the 2016-17 season to work alongside then head coach Anthony Foley.

There is still no white smoke from the chimneys of the Munster hierarchy and Rowntree himself said recently on The Red78 podcast that the province’s approach to appointing staff for next season was “an ongoing process. It’s not the quickest process, I have to say but it’s still ongoing and I can’t tell you any more than that, sorry.” 

As Munster prepare for this Saturday’s first knockout game of the season, a Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 first leg away to Exeter Chiefs, captain O’Mahony was yesterday asked whether he was concerned over the lack the lack of clarity regarding the future coaching ticket.

"It's not ideal but from a player's point of view,” O’Mahony replied, “from my point of view, I certainly have enough on my plate and we have enough on our plate with regard to obviously reviewing the game last weekend and then getting on to a hugely exciting and an incredibly big test in Europe, going to Exeter this weekend.

"Rugby is about being big in the moment and about being in the week that you're in. There'll always be noise and there'll always be people talking about this and that but I think the good guys, good players, they focus on the week and the task that's ahead and they don't get their attention taken away from what really matters.

"And I think luckily we have a huge group of that calibre of player involved with us that we won't be taken off task.

"I'm not going to sit here and say that it's ideal, I'd love to have the whole ticket named for next year, but that's not the way life or these things work and there's a huge process in the background to get these things sorted and I'm sure the people who are put in charge of that are doing the best they can and trying to get it done, so we just have to worry about Saturday.” 

O’Mahony said it was up the player leadership group to keep the wider squad on task if Munster was to stay competitive in both Europe and the United Rugby Championship. “That’s the kind of people you want around you and that’s the kind of messaging that will be given off from the leadership group and myself. It’s about this Saturday and we spoke before the session today that the most important thing today was performing in the session and getting the best out of yourself to be the best version of yourself come Saturday. So that’s all the players are worried about.” 

Munster find themselves in familiar territory heading into a crucial European week, with backs against the wall following a stinging league defeat to old enemies Leinster last Saturday at Thomond Park and facing a top English side away from home and frontline stars Tadhg Beirne, Andrew Conway, Gavin Coombes and Dave Kilcoyne all ruled out for the trip to Sandy Park.

That sort of scenario has often prompted the men in red to deliver inspirational performances and O’Mahony referenced last December’s epic pool win away to Wasps when the majority of the senior squad and coaching staff was self-isolating in either Cape Town or in Irish hotels following a Covid outbreak on tour in South Africa and a team made up of debutants, academy players and internationals led by O’Mahony scored a bonus-point victory over the English club in Coventry.

“Absolutely we can get there again,” the skipper said. "That’s something we’ll always reference and go back to.  When you’re called up, when you need to do a job, there’s some things that you can do which are special and that was a special week. That’s very important to us.”