Munster teammates' coaching transition 'unreal' says Maeve Óg O’Leary

Chloe Pearse and Nicole Cronin have joined Matt Brown's backroom.

Munster's Maeve Óg O’Leary, Caitriona Finn and Ellen Boylan celebrate after the game against Leinster last weekend. INPHO/Ben Brady

Munster captain Maeve Óg O’Leary has praised the seamless transitions made by Chloe Pearse and Nicole Cronin from team-mates to coaches as the province bids to continue its winning start to the 2026 Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship in Cork this Saturday (2:30pm).

Skills coaches Pearse and Cronin, both former Ireland internationals, were added to Matt Brown’s coaching ticket for this season and helped Munster get their title defence off to a flying start at Virgin Media Park last Saturday as O’Leary’s side registered a 39-19 opening-round win over Leinster.

Ulster are the upcoming opponents when they visit Leeside this Saturday and both the former back-rower and ex-scrum-half can be expected to be on the touchline as water carriers throughout the round-two contest. The skipper is delighted it has proven to be such an easy transfer for her former team-mates from player to coach, offering an important channel for communication from field to coaches' box during matches.

“It's been brilliant,” O’Leary said on Tuesday. “And it's been pretty seamless, in fairness, to Chloe and to Nicole as well, who's in on the backs side of things.

“It's unreal. I think the impact of that, I suppose, former player coming into coach is amazing. She really understands what makes us tick as players on another level on the pitch.

“And we really felt that at the weekend, the messages coming in, whether we were standing under our own posts or whether we were just going back to the halfway after scoring ourselves, they were brilliant.

“Chloe and Nicole know exactly what we need, know what we need to hear. They've been in those positions where you're under the pump, whether it's defending for five minutes or whether you're just kind of running in tries.

“So it's been massive. The transition has been really smooth. It feels like at times with the girls, they’re still our team-mates, but, no, it opens up a really open communication channel. They know exactly how to communicate with us and what makes us tick. And, I suppose, vice versa too.

“We're able to speak really openly and look for honest feedback. And, yes, I feel really lucky this year to have the two girls, it’s class.” Most of the communicating between coaches and players was at halfway last Saturday as Munster ran in seven tries to Leinster’s three in an emphatic victory and O’Leary said she was delighted her team had successfully negotiated their opening challenge and all of its potential pitfalls.

“There's just so much that’s unknown in that first fixture. As a squad, we've only played one challenge game and within that challenge game, there's a lot of chopping and changing because the coach is trying to get players into different positions, see how different combinations are working.

“So this is your first real game, and first real test of the interpros as a squad and then you also really don't know what your opposition is going to bring. You don't have video to work off of, really. You're not sure maybe who's going to be in the team, out of the team, what combinations they've been working on.

“Then you have the unknown of your new young players coming up as well. And then it was obviously Erin King and Eve Higgins’s first caps as well, where they had such a wealth of experience. So that first round, there is so much unknown.

“We were definitely just striving for a performance over anything. So to come away with the win was genuinely so great and, yeah, we were absolutely delighted.

“We did enjoy it, the satisfaction down in Virgin Media Park with the home crowd. But, you know, the things do move on pretty quick and upon a review, there's so much still that we want to be better, which is great too.

“I suppose that's maybe the biggest win, coming away with the win, but also knowing that there is so much more that we can fix and push on from. So, yeah, we definitely enjoyed it. We had plenty of first caps and a good few girls returning from injury. So there was so much more to celebrate as well beyond the win.

“But, yeah, we'll be looking now to push on our next two games and hopefully at the end of August be pushing to bring the cup home.”