MUNSTER PROP DAVE Kilcoyne has hailed the impact of performance psychologist Caroline Currid on the province since she linked up with them ahead of this season.
Currid has had great success with the Limerick hurlers and many other top-class athletes and teams in the past, with Munster now benefiting from her expertise.
Kilcoyne praised Currid for her influence on the group leading into their impressive win over Wasps last weekend when they were missing 34 senior players and saw 12 youngsters making their debuts for the province.
“She has been incredible for the environment,” said Ireland international Kilcoyne of Currid.
“You can understand how Limerick have been so successful with her.
“We did a connectivity meeting where we sat down last week and just really got to know each other. She’s top-class, brings a huge amount of positivity but in terms of the psychology side, she makes us think quite differently.
“She’s been great at getting us connected and getting us ready for games, bringing a different element that we’re all loving here at Munster at the moment.”
Kilcoyne thoroughly enjoyed the experience of the build-up to the Wasps game, as Munster brought in a raft of young prospects to train alongside the remaining core of international players like himself.
It involved the older players acting as coaches with their younger team-mates, something that Kilcoyne embraced.
“I loved it and it is very easy to love it when you are dealing with lads who are so eager to learn,” he said.
“We were all given a buddy and I would have been trying to help the front rows as best I could in terms of our scrum sessions and working with Andy [Kyriacou, a Munster academy coach].
“Mark Donnelly [an academy prop], who I thought did really well, came in on the Monday or Tuesday and knew his roles, knew his detail.
“I was just giving him pointers all week on what to expect, smart decisions to make, things in and around the breakdown, not to be chasing lost causes, small things that I think all the players benefited from.”
Of course, Munster have confirmed the departure of their head coach since that Wasps game and ahead of tomorrow’s Champions Cup clash against Castres in Limerick.
Johann van Graan will leave for Bath at the end of the season, with senior coach Stephen Larkham having earlier confirmed his departure next summer too.
Whoever comes in next, Kilcoyne is confident that they will have great resources to work with in Munster.
“I’m sure Munster and the IRFU will do a huge amount of background checks to get the right fella for the job but in any organisation or any job, it’s constant progression,” said Kilcoyne.
“You want to be getting better every day so whoever they get in, we need to build on the structures we have here, which I think are incredible at the moment.
“You look at our fan base, you look at the facilities we have here, the young players coming through, the mix of senior, good pros, strength and conditioning staff, physios.
“There’s not many organisations in the world that are as good as what we have here or how blessed we are. Whoever comes in, whatever they can add to it is the way forward.”
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