New Munster head coach could be announced 'within a few weeks'
Munster attack coach Mike Prendergast, on the right, had thrown his hat into the ring to become the province's next head coach. Pic: Brendan Moran, Sportsfile
A new Munster head coach could be announced “within a few weeks”, according to IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys, the man pivotal to any recruitment process within the provinces.
It was only week ago that Munster chief executive Ian Flanagan insisted to the he would not be tied to “an artificial timeline” on the appointment of a permanent successor to Graham Rowntree, whose shock departure by mutual consent just six weeks into the 2024-25 season sparked the current vacuum.
The IRFU performance director on Tuesday echoed Flanagan’s central point that there had been no hurry to announce Rowntree’s replacement but also spoke of his optimism for a swift conclusion to the process following a lengthy review period conducted by performance consultant Chris Boyd, the former Hurricanes and Northampton Saints director of rugby.
"We would hope it would be within a few weeks,” Humphreys said from Ireland’s warm-weather training base on Portugal’s Algarve.
"The whole thing in coaching and appointments is never making a rash decision. It's such an important appointment for Munster, not so much for the rest of the season because they have a very good coaching team in place with Ian Costello and Mike Prendergast who have managed them through the last few months with support from Chris Boyd really well.
"From our point of view we have confidence with the people who are in the room, but it's making sure that the process we now go through ensures we are giving Munster the best chance to be successful and continue to be competitive."
Attack coach Prendergast, who has publicly expressed his desire to be the next Munster boss, is currently in camp with Simon Easterby’s squad ahead of their Guinness Six Nations opener against England in Dublin this Saturday having been appointed Ireland A head coach for the February 23 fixture against England A at Bristol’s Ashton Gate.
Yet Humphreys avoided the suggestion that the Munster assistant’s temporary appointment was an endorsement of Prendergast’s credentials as a head coach despite implying he was already the acting head coach, overseen by head of rugby operations Ian Costello, who was named by his province as interim head coach on the day Rowntree departed.
“The fact that this process has been ongoing is never any reflection on what's there. I think because of the nature of Munster as a club, as a province, because of the level of job that that is, we just had to make sure that we explored every option.
“Mike has been in the period where he's been head coach done a really good job supported by Ian Costello and the other appointments that have been made. So we're very comfortable with the people that are in the room.
"To me, from some of the processes that I've been involved in, other people looking in, if we go for an external appointment, they will see that as a real strength because they bring not just technical, tactical qualities but it's also they bring a real identity of who Munster is and we want Munster to be big going forward.”
Prendergast and fellow assistant coaches Denis Leamy and Mossie Lawler have all recently signed two-year contract extensions, but Humphreys suggested an external appointment may be more likely following Boyd’s review.
“We believe that getting the coaching team right in all the provinces is absolutely essential to the longer-term success.
“We know with the squad that Munster have coming through it's making sure that any appointment is in place for a longer term. I absolutely believe in the continuity of the coaching team being one of the fundamentals to delivering longer-term success for the players.
“I don't think it says anything about the person we're looking for, it's more a reflection of how highly Munster and the IRFU regard the coaching team that's in place there. The question is whether or not that group has got all the attributes that's required to take Munster forward or whether in the period going forward, that some additional support is required.
“The IRFU have stepped in that period and Alex Codling's come in (as forwards coach consultant) and the feedback has been he's made a huge impact in terms of not just the lineout but in the broader coaching piece. So I have absolutely no doubt that by the time we're ready to make an appointment, it will put Munster in a very good place going forward.”
What was definitive from the former Ulster and Ireland fly-half was that Felix Jones is not on the IRFU’s radar at the current moment. The former Munster player and assistant coach who followed Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber to South Africa, winning back-to-back World Cups as defence coach, is serving out a one-year notice period after a short-lived tenure with England but is at liberty to take a new job outside of Test rugby under the terms of his employment with the RFU.
“I have met Felix a couple of times over the course of the last 12 months,” Humphreys said. “Even before, when I first came into this role (in Spring 2024), one of the first things I think Irish rugby has done really well over the last decade is if you look around the world we have really good coaches coaching in different countries, in different teams.
“Working with Daragh Sheridan, who is our coaching development officer, we then look to recruit coaches, whether that’s for provinces or for national teams. We’re really connecting with everyone in that conversation. Felix has been ongoing but it’s not something in the short term."
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