What’s facing interim Munster boss Ian Costello?

Simon Lewis looks at what Costello will need to do during his time in charge.

TOUGH GIG: Head of Rugby Operations Ian Costello has a lot of work to do. Pic: ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports

Six games into a new season and there are problems aplenty to occupy Munster’s head of Rugby operations as he takes temporary charge for the indefinite future.

Graham Rowntree’s surprise departure comes ahead of an All Blacks XV visit to a sold-out Thomond Park this Saturday but Costello has a further month to prepare for the return of the URC campaign and a home clash with the Lions on November 30.

Here’s what he will need to do:

Refresh The Batteries

Just two wins in six rounds of the new URC campaign leave Munster in 12th, which means there is a lot of work to be done on a squad shorn of its Ireland internationals for November. 

Costello has been here before in similar circumstances, taking the reins for an epic Champions Cup pool win at Wasps when the senior coaches and much of the squad were stuck in a South African Covid outbreak. He will need to perform another marvel this time around to arrest this slump.

Tighten Up

Munster supporters have seen only glimpses of what their team is capable of this season, for the most part watching their heroes squander chance after chance with ball in hand and leak tries early and often, handing try bonus points to five of their six opponents.

Rowntree’s final press conference after defeat to the Sharks saw him insist there was no need to go back to the drawing board, merely a sharpening of his players’ accuracy and decision-making. The tasking of implementing that now falls to those he has left behind.

Decide Whether To Continue The Rowntree Way

When he took the reins in 2022, Rowntree replaced his South African predecessor’s gameplan with a more expansive mindset under attack coach Mike Prendergast and put fire in his players’ bellies through new defence coach Denis Leamy. He also ramped up Munster’s training methods.

Costello is on-field for every session and knows the processes but will he introduce his own ideas? Leamy and Prendergast, both of whom are out of contract next summer, will have a major say on that.