'World class' Tadhg Beirne the right man to lead Munster says Graham Rowntree

Beirne was confirmed as Munster’s club captain for the new season on Monday.

AYE AYE CAPTAIN: Tadhg Beirne will lead Munster out this season. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Graham Rowntree laid out his case for naming Tadhg Beirne as Munster’s ninth permanent captain of the professional era and predicted the dynamic Ireland forward would lead the province in his own way.

Describing British & Irish Lion Beirne, 32, as a player with an aura, a driver of standards and an “easy-going, laidback dude” in virtually the same breath, the Munster head coach also said his new skipper was a world-class forward who would be picked whenever he was fit.

Rowntree will also lean heavily on his leadership group within the squad given Beirne, his province’s one remaining player on a central contract with the IRFU, will be in demand for Ireland during the Autumn Nations Series and Six Nations Championship windows and as a regular Test starter will be subject to the governing body’s player welfare management systems.

Yet for the Munster boss, who has had 10 months since Peter O’Mahony stepped down after a decade in the role, to make his choice, the lock/flanker was the ideal candidate to follow Pat Murray, Mick Galwey, Jim Williams, Anthony Foley, Paul O’Connell, Doug Howlett and O’Mahony into the captaincy.

"I took my time,” Rowntree said of the Beirne decision-making process. “He did a great job last year, he managed us through most of the season as captain.

“He is world-class, world-class. If he's fit, I'll be picking him. That's a big one for a captain, I think, he's got to be up there with one of your best players.

"He's got an aura about him the way plays the game. He's good for the group, he's a giver as well. He likes pulling along the group standard-wise. He's easy-going, a laidback dude as well, he does it his own way.

"As in most clubs and most pro sports, most businesses, you've got a strong leadership group. It won't be Tadhg doing all the talking. It's not him doing all the talking in training weeks, it's not him doing all the talking on the field. We have a strong leadership group to help him along with things but there were some good candidates.

"I spoke to a few guys the night before I announced it. There are a few strong candidates within our group who could do the job, who I think probably will do the job eventually and particularly when Tadhg is not here, not available on international duty or whatever. I'm delighted it's out there.

"He doesn't say too much, does he? He won't want to do the big speech but what he says matters, that's powerful."

Rowntree is also an admirer of Beirne’s journey in professional rugby, the Kildare man having left Leinster in search of game time and then becoming an influential member of a Scarlets team that won the Pro12 league title 2018 before returning to Ireland and kick-starting his international career as a Munster player.

"It's brilliant. Resilience - that's the biggest thing you can have a sportsman, resilience. Get knocked down, keep getting up, he shows that. He is the right man to lead Munster into the new season."

Becoming Munster’s first new skipper in a decade, the 52-cap Ireland international said: “It’s a huge honour to be named as captain of Munster Rugby and to lead a great group of players into the new season.

“I have had a fantastic six years here and it’s an incredibly proud moment for me and my family. Very few people have had the opportunity to captain Munster Rugby and it’s a massive honour to follow in the footsteps of some incredible players and leaders.

“I had the privilege of leading the team a number of times in the past and the job was always made easier by the amount of leaders we have in the squad. We have a very tight-knit group and it means a lot to me to lead the squad as captain for the season ahead.”

Hooker Diarmuid Barron and back-rower Jack O’Donoghue were others to whom Rowntree turned as a stand-in skipper last season and they will be among the candidates to assume the captaincy in Beirne’s absence.

With Ireland’s summer tourists who played a significant part in the drawn Test series against the Springboks in South Africa unavailable to their provinces until URC round three on October 5 at the earliest, Beirne’s first opportunity to lead Munster will have to wait until that day’s home game against Ospreys in Cork.