With ball in hand, Munster no longer primarily focused on playing off nine

New direction has also seen change to defensive strategy, moving away from the battle of the breakdown and a multi-jackal threat, to now using line speed as the primary weapon.

Munster Attack coach Mike Prendergast

The original masterplan for the 2022-23 season never had Graham Rowntree down as head coach, but given time, his appointment could truly signal a revival in Munster’s fortunes.

Munster, under previous head coaches, Rassie Erasmus and Johann van Graan, could be best described as a tier two team, capable of winning 75% plus of their games each season but when it came to winning silverware, were consistently short of the mark. For the bean counters and executives, heroic once-off results and/or knockout rugby with a large gate receipt was enough of a pass mark to get a head coach a new contract, but in reality Munster were slipping further and further away from the top table of Irish and European rugby.