WITH MUNSTER IN their time of need – all of the senior coaching staff in isolation along with 34 senior players – there was really no one better placed than Ian Costello to step up and lead the province’s charge over the past fortnight.
He only joined from Wasps last summer, so had the inside line on the Premiership club.
He is Munster’s academy manager, so had the inside line on the talented players within the province who were required to step up.
And he is a previous Munster senior assistant coach, so he knows virtually all of the crop of experienced internationals who played today in Coventry too. He also previously coached several of them when they were coming through the pathway themselves.
Costello deserves major credit for guiding Munster to their 35-14 bonus-point win over Wasps in Coventry this evening.
Speaking afterwards, Costello stressed how important a role that senior pros like captain Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Keith Earls, Andrew Conway, and Dave Kilcoyne have played over the past fortnight.
They have acted as quasi-coaches to a very young wider group of players from the academy and players from the National Talent Squad and Provincial Talent Squad further down the Munster pathway ahead of this Champions Cup win.
At the same time, Costello is deservedly proud of how academy players like player of the match Scott Buckley, number eight Daniel Okeke, fullback Patrick Campbell and second row Eoin O’Connor performed in this European victory. There were another raft of young guns off the Munster bench in the second half as the province’s fans got a thrilling glimpse of the future.
“I just was blown away by their calmness, how composed they were and honestly a huge amount of credit has to go to the senior players and the environment that they created in the last two weeks that allowed them to go out and express themselves like that,” said Costello.
“I can’t tell you what was going on internally but what we could see – we were watching for all those signs, we’ve got some people who work with us from a psychology point of view really looking out for things, red flags, and genuinely we didn’t see that.
“I think a huge credit to those lads, a huge credit to the staff that work with them and it comes back to the confidence and belief the senior players gave them, an environment that allowed them to go out and play their game.
“The young lads were so calm and composed. I just think it was a unique opportunity to be able to play so many players surrounded by so much experience and I just hope that stands to us this year and well into the future in terms of our pathway. That’s got to be a catalyst now for us going forward.”
Munster’s academy has taken some serious flak in relatively recent times but this was the latest sign of a healthy production line.
Costello was measured tonight, however, and stressed that this needs to be a springboard.
“It’s a work in progress, there’s no point in saying it’s not,” he said. “Today is special and we’re going to enjoy today but there has to be momentum to springboard for the future.
“We don’t know what that’s going to ignite or spark but there’s another 15, 18 guys at home that didn’t get the opportunity today that have loved the last two weeks and now they know what it’s like to be at the level of Tadhg Beirne or Keith Earls.
“So now we have to find a way to capitalise on that and we have to find a way to spark us going forward and it has to be about our pathway as well and it’s got to be the Munster way of doing things. Yes, this is in a crisis and it’s a very unique situation but we have to find a way to create more opportunities for the whole club to come together like this.”
It remains to be seen what happens next with Munster as they turn their attention towards the visit of Castres to Thomond Park next Saturday.
The French side lost at home to Harlequins today, so may not have a huge amount of interest in the tie in Limerick but Munster are focusing on themselves.
Costello said it’s unclear which senior players will be available after a large group of them finished self-isolation in Ireland yesterday, with the province’s strength and conditioning staff assessing players’ fitness.
Out-half Joey Carbery is a major doubt after leaving the pitch in Coventry with what appeared to be a shoulder injury following a heavy tackle on him in the second half.
“I haven’t got any update, to be honest,” said Costello of Carbery.
“I know he came off with his jersey wrapped around in a sling but I don’t honestly know yet, I haven’t spoken to the medics.”
