MUNSTER fans this week were still coming to terms with a second season without knock-out rugby in Europe, when news broke of the appointment of Andy Farrell as an interim consultant.
The news came as a surprise to all. (Including this hack who broke the story). Farrell, who was only last week appointed as Ireland defence coach, commencing after the Six Nations, is now set to help Munster two days a week as ‘support’ to the management team. Farrell will not take part in any training sessions, nor will he take part in any match day activities. Then why is he here? some may ask.
“We started off the season well, we’ve run into a patch in the season that you’d prefer not to. We would have weekly meetings with the coaching staff and our plan through the Professional Games Board was to do everything we could to help the situation or support them,” added Munster CEO Garrett Fitzgerald.
“We did look at a number of options, he came up on our radar. It was a complete coincidence that when he was on our radar, the IRFU were actually in discussions with him. We didn’t know that at the time,” Fitzgerald continued.
There is to be no change to the management structure in place. Anthony Foley, Brian Walsh, Jerry Flannery, Ian Costello and Mick O’Driscoll are all out of contract in June. With Foley being the only one currently offered a one year extension to his deal, Fitzgerald confirmed yesterday that no talks have opened with anyone else so far. With Munster’s indigenous coaching ticket heralded by all two seasons ago, it now seems that the Munster hierarchy feels a change of some kind, even on a short term basis, was needed. The one person who welcomed this arrangement, it seems, was Anthony Foley.
When told by the Professional Games Committee in Munster about the idea, Foley admits it was too good an opportunity to miss.
“It was a very short conversation, to be honest with you. I think it was something that I couldn’t, as a professional, turn my nose up to. I saw it as a great opportunity to get somebody with vast experience in around the playing group and coaching group.”
Foley, of course, has to be positive about the news but as Munster face into another dead rubber in Europe, fans are wondering not only what lies ahead for Munster but who is going to be taking the club forward into next season.
If the current management team is perceived as needing help at this point in the season, then who is going to replace Farrell when he leaves in May?
Will Munster need to bring in a director of rugby, over Anthony Foley, for next season? Which coaches of the current set up are to remain? This current Munster squad has equalled their worst ever run of results (five lost in a row) while also, for the first time ever, they have failed to qualify from Champions Cup pools for two seasons. Yes, the rugby landscape has changed and Munster can no longer win a Champions Cup, so where-to now for the Red Army? The next four months could be franchise defining times for a club/province/ brand that needs to set new realistic targets for itself and its fan base. Change is coming.
