Munster 'approaching crossroads' with change of personnel on the cards

CHANGES AFOOT: Head coach Graham Rowntree. Pic: Dan Sheridan, Inpho

Graham Rowntree has told the Irish Examiner he will be ready “sooner than later” to institute some major personnel changes in his Munster squad.

The URC champions are expected to announce a new fly-half signing for next season shortly, understood to be Ulster’s Billy Burns, as an experienced replacement for the exiting Joey Carbery as back-up to first-choice Jack Crowley and have signed the now Ireland-capped tighthead prop Oli Jager ahead of schedule from Super Rugby champions Crusaders. 

Connacht back-three player Diarmuid Kilgallen has also signed on for 2024-25 and the Munster head coach in an Examiner Sport story earlier this week said there was room for one or two more incoming players.

With veteran internationals Conor Murray and Ireland captain Peter O’Mahony coming to the end of central IRFU contracts and reportedly set to sign new hybrid deals financed by both the governing body and Munster, there remain at least seven other senior professionals with their current terms set to expire this summer.

Asked if that would lead to an end of season exodus from the province, Rowntree said: “I think we’re approaching a crossroads as a club where we have to move on with certain personnel.

“We’ll see but it’s going to happen sooner than later. It has to be right for the club. My main role is to deal with what’s right for the club in that regard, when to bring guys through, when to move guys on. There we go, watch this space.” 

As for Jager, who made his Test debut for Ireland last Saturday against Wales, Rowntree declared himself delighted to have signed the tighthead seven months earlier than expected.

“He’s fitted in seamlessly. I think he’ll be big part of this club for a long time. What did Faz describe him as? A man’s man with a moustache who gets on with things.

“He came to watch the Crusaders game with a skinhead and his big moustache and he looked like Charles Bronson, not the actor!

“He’s fitted in well with his professionalism, his humility and he’s a big man as well. He moves well for a big man. 

"He took a while to get used to our training demands and our training load but he was doing things differently, that I’ve seen – the shape he gets into in the scrum and the ability to move well around the ruck.

“A really impressive character and let’s not forget he’s an Irishman. It’s not like we’re shipping in a South African or a New Zealander.”