An all-Munster born and bred coaching group was confirmed last night but not all of them hail from Limerick as Brian Walsh and Mick O'Driscoll bring a Cork balance to Anthony Foley's team.
Walsh is the most interesting appointment, having been Cork Constitution head coach for eight years, until this season, and with many expecting the backs/attack expert to be recruited from abroad.
But Foley and Munster are placing their trust in one of the club game’s most impressive graduates.
Walsh also played for Munster, and was part of the 1992 side that beat Australia at Thomond Park.
Nor does he come into the professional environment from the cold having been apart of Munster’s Academy board, but until recently he was coaching PBC Cork schools team and the Cork Con under-20s.
Plenty of the current squad, including captain Peter O’Mahony and Simon Zebo, would have been under his influence at Con.
Niall O’Donovan keeps a link to Declan Kidney’s coaching ticket alive while the recent Munster success on the field is represented by Jerry Flannery’s return from Arsenal, where he was a conditioning coach, to oversee the scrum.
Another product of the club scene, UL Bohemians Ian Costello will be responsible for defence and kicking. O'Driscoll's title is technical adviser.
Each coach signed two-year deals that commence on July 1st. Departed head coach Rob Penney was only able to secure a one-year extension, which he declined.
"We have a unique situation here," said Munster chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald, "in not only appointing all-Irish coaches, we are extremely proud to appoint coaches that have learned their trade within the province. It is a reflection of the level of coaches on offer in Irish rugby.
“With Anthony at the helm we look forward to seeing this group work together in achieving success for Munster Rugby.”
Leinster appointments
Meanwhile, Leinster have confirmed the appointment of Marco Caputo, the former Australian hooker, as Greg Feek's successor as scrum coach.
“I’ve known Marco for a long time and have been impressed by the work he has been doing at the various clubs that he has coached. When you look at our squad we have a great cross section of experience and youth in the front row who have all developed under the tutelage of Greg Feek, and who are all eager to improve and challenge themselves further at the highest level.’’
Richie Murphy has also signed a new deal overseeing skills and kicking, a role he will continue to do in Joe Schmidt’s Irish set-up where he primarily works with Jonathan Sexton and the other place-kickers.
The Ireland squad broke up yesterday after a two-day camp in preparation of next month's two-test series in Argentina.
