Decision time: Who are the candidates to replace Graham Rowntree at Munster?
NEXT IN LINE? Munster attack coach Mike Prendergast. Pic: Dan Sheridan/Inpho
If Munster are to promote from within, then the attack coach they lured home from the glamour of Racing 92 is your man.
Prendergast, a thoughtful and incisive presence in front of the media, has overhauled Munster’s offensive gameplan and quickly got buy-in from all around him, forwards and backs alike.
His appointment would provide continuity having been a Rowntree appointment and though like his former boss, he would be a first-time head coach, it would be popular with supporters.
Another former Munster player with an excellent coaching pedigree since leaving Johann van Graan’s staff and following former boss Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber to South Africa’s Springboks, helping the dynamic duo to back-to-back World Cup successes in 2019 and 2023.
Jones is a canny operator, and will not have tendered his resignation from Steve Borthwick’s England set-up without a great deal of thought.
The fact he is being made to see out his 12-month RFU notice as a remote worker will have also afforded him plenty of time to think about his next move, but whether that is as a head coach only he will know.
The interim head coach has been here before, taking charge of a depleted and crisis-hit Munster squad in December 2021 with the senior coaching staff stranded in South Africa and masterminding a famous Champions Cup pool win at his former club Wasps.
Costello has already carved an impressive niche since his elevation as Head of Rugby Operations but whether he wants to go back to full-time coaching is another matter.
A Munster and Ireland legend with an exquisite coaching pedigree and a rock-solid contract at La Rochelle ticks all the boxes for an emotional return to his playing roots but why would he?
His mission at Stade Rochelais is a long-term one, as any reader of his column will have learned and surely only a Test appointment would tempt him away from the Top 14 club he has led to two Champions Cup titles.
Could it be time to finally bring the mastermind behind two Heineken Cup victories and a Six Nations Grand Slam back into his home province?
His spell as Director of Rugby with London Irish was a fruitful one until the English Premiership club was forced to call in the receivers and the Corkman has so much rugby IP to offer Munster.
As an overseer of the senior squad, he would also be a perfect fit with his former players and current assistants Denis Leamy and the aforementioned Mike Prendergast, with Costello returning to his day-to-day operational and strategic role. It’s an intriguing thought.
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