James Coughlan – became a coach at Pau after retiring in 2017, now defence coach at Toulon after progressing with Aix-en-Provence and Brive.įelix Jones – left with Flannery in 2019, quickly snapped up by Rassie Erasmus and part of the Springboks’ set-up for their World Cup and Lions wins. Mike Prendergast – joined Bernard Jackman at Grenoble from Young Munster, before spells at Oyonnax, Stade and now Racing 92 attack coach. Paul O’Connell – had spells with Stade Francais and the Ireland U-20s before joining Andy Farrell’s Ireland coaching ticket. Jerry Flannery – left the Munster staff in 2019, a key part of Harlequins’ Premiership win last season. Ronan O’Gara – at the forefront of the European coaching game as director of rugby at La Rochelle, after stints at Racing 92 and the Crusaders. Director of rugby at London Irish since 2018. Seeing Leamy tangled up in blue will grate, but fans will hope the current team can click and won’t care where their coaches came from if they do.ĭeclan Kidney – led Munster to the 20 titles. Last year, O’Gara questioned if his old province is losing its identity as they went a 10th season without a trophy, getting bullied by Leinster in the PRO14 final to rub salt in the wounds. Whether it’s Declan Kidney and Flannery in England, Ronan O’Gara, Mike Prendergast or James Coughlan or Paul O’Connell with Ireland, one doesn’t have to look far to find high-calibre former Munster heroes doing great things in coaching. Van Graan is in the last year of his contract and indications are that he and his team will continue beyond the end of this season. Van Graan’s compatriot JP Ferreira runs the defence, while Costello has returned to run the Academy. The South African drafted in heavyweight names to replace them in Stephen Larkham and Graham Rowntree. So, Felix Jones and Jerry Flannery stepped up to the coaching team, but they departed at the end of 2019 after opting not to take up the offer of a new contract to remain part of Johann van Graan’s team. When Erasmus arrived, Mick O’Driscoll, Brian Walsh and Ian Costello departed. Beneath that, there must be some concern that so many of the province’s leading lights are plying their trade elsewhere, while there is no link from those past teams to the current Munster set-up apart from manager Niall O’Donovan.Īnthony Foley was Munster’s last home-grown head coach, taking over with an entirely domestic ticket in the midst of a difficult period of rebuilding.īy the time he died in 2016, Foley had been repositioned as part of Rassie Erasmus’s coaching team – with the South African recruited to bring top-level experience to a struggling set-up.

Hugh o connor