Without being in any way disrespectful to his former province Jason Holland, understandably, has ruled himself out of coaching Munster for the time being given he is otherwise engaged as the All Blacks’ backs coach.
The 52-year-old played 102 times for Munster between 1999 and 2008, having initially arrived in Cork in November 1998 intending to play for a season with Midleton before travelling to the UK with his then girlfriend and now wife Andrea.
The best-laid plans and all that.
Midleton let him recover from a thumb injury for an inactive three months and his intelligent playmaking at outhalf caught the eye of Declan Kidney, who offered him a provincial contract and subsequently a coaching role.
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Indeed, Holland was also backs’ coach when Munster won their second Heineken Cup in 2008 and the Magners League titles of 2009 and 2011 before returning to New Zealand in 2012 to become assistant coach at first Canterbury and then the Hurricanes.
He was co-opted on to the Scott Robertson ticket last December and was asked after the All Blacks’ behind-closed-doors training session at the UCD Bowl on Monday if he would be interested in the Munster head coaching role following the departure of Graham Rowntree.
“No, no, no, I’m busy here. So, not me,” he replied. Holland admitted a few years ago that he’d like to come back to Munster, and said: “Yeah, but not in the near future ... I’ve got a pretty awesome job at the moment which I’m loving. So not at this stage.”
This Friday’s clash in the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 8.10pm) brings Holland back to Ireland for the first time since returning home.
“It’s been 12 or 13 years now and great to be back in Ireland. I’ll get back down to Cork when the tour is over. It’s awesome. You can feel the excitement around the Irish people already. So, it’s cool.”
Needless to say, he will always reflect positively on his extended stint with Munster.
“I had an awesome time at Munster obviously. I was watching on telly at the atmosphere in Thomond Park last weekend and it looked every bit as fun to play as it always was, but look, the people are the thing for me around Ireland. So, I can’t wait to catch up with a few people and have a few quiet [pints of] Guinness when the tour is over.
“Both of my girls were born here, obviously, and even the odd Sunday the girls are on FaceTime to their mates in Ireland. So, everyone’s kept pretty tight. It’s cool.”
Holland was restricted to less than eight minutes with the media, some 45 minutes after our arrival at the appointed time, outside the enclosed UCD Bowl, as the All Blacks negotiate a six-day turnaround which will be smoothed by their win over England last Saturday at Twickenham, however fortuitous.
“It’s all around understanding how you’re going to play. Physically and mentally you’ve just got to get right, we’ve done that pretty well.
When did the All Blacks lose their aura?
We had a travel day yesterday and a bit of info for the boys today, little bits and pieces, but they’ll have a day off tomorrow and Wednesday will be like a normal Thursday. We’ve got some pretty smart people here in our medical and physical group and have set it up really well for us.”
Holland confirmed that Anton Lienert-Brown’s late yellow card at Twickenham was not upgraded, so he is available to face Ireland, as is Rieko Ioane, next Friday night’s putative pantomime villain, despite the slight finger injury he sustained against England.
“I suppose the rivalry is built on how competitive the games are, isn’t it?” ventured Holland of the edge between Ireland and New Zealand these days. “There hasn’t been much in it between the two teams the last few years. It’s a really healthy competitive nature and it sets itself nicely for Friday night.”
Ioane’s buddy, Johnny Sexton, has retired but Holland seems to genuinely believe that this Irish team have adapted well.
“They have a couple of young 10s that are really stepping up but have obviously been in the environment for a long time and slot into the way Ireland play. They understand what running footy is when Ireland play running footy. I think they’ll transition really well.
“They have some pretty senior guys around the 10s in their 12s and 13s and then obviously Jamo [Gibson-Park] has been around for a long time as well so it has been pretty smooth from what we’ve seen.”
He also believes Ireland have evolved since the World Cup under the Andy Farrell coaching ticket which now has seen another Kiwi, Andrew Goodman, aboard.
“They always have something new and you always have to prepare for that but the guts of what they do around their attack shape and how they defend is very similar while obviously trying to get better at it.
“I’ve enjoyed the way they’re attacking. Some of the lines they run, some of their options at the line, multiple options, the way they play, I really enjoy that.
“And I suppose like any good Irish side they’re built on their work rate and their ability to go to war for each other. That hasn’t changed over the years, has it?
“Maybe they’ve got a little bit more in their game than what was the case when I was around here. When you’ve got a team that works as hard as they do and coupled with their skill set and their attacking structures, it makes them into the good side that they obviously are.”
