IT’S NOT THAT long ago that Mike Prendergast was putting his hand up to be Munster’s head coach.
He was the favourite at one stage, but the process ended with Clayton McMillan coming in from New Zealand on a three-year deal.
And now, Prendergast is in the final few months of his time with Munster.
After a season as senior coach to McMillan, the Limerick man has decided to move on this summer, a year earlier than his contract was due to end.
Prendergast is expected to join Johann van Graan’s Bath as attack coach ahead of next season.
“Look, it’s just one of those decisions,” said Prendergast today, speaking to the media for the first time since his departure was confirmed.
“I just felt it was the right decision for myself going back a couple of months ago, and it was something I suppose I wanted to do for now.”
Prendergast is a native Munster man who played for the province in two spells and returned as attack coach under Graham Rowntree in 2022, helping Munster to an unexpected URC title at the end of their first season.
Before returning to Munster, Prendergast spent nine years coaching in France with Grenoble, Oyonnax, Stade Français, and Racing 92. He believes he grew as a coach as he worked with teams who competed at the top end and others who struggled, all in a different language with players and coaches from all over the world.
So having worked his way back to Munster, Prendergast said part of him is naturally disappointed to be leaving again after being overlooked for the head coach role last year.
“I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t disappointed,” said Prendergast.
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“Look, there was a decision the club had to make and they made it. I fully respect that. I was disappointed at the time. I got over it, I got on with it. I suppose the decision came up then again, not too long ago, and it was something I had to make. That’s the kind of decision I went with.”
Prendergast with Jack Crowley. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The Munster senior coach believes he was able to put his disappointment aside and be a positive presence in the set-up as he began working with McMillan this season.
Being an interim assistant coach with Ireland on their summer tour of Georgia and Portugal helped.
“You can’t feel sorry for yourself,” said Prendergast. “As a coach, especially, you can’t go in front of 50 or 60 lads and show disappointment.
“And I don’t think I did either, to be honest. I got over it. I was disappointed. I was very disappointed, I’ll be very honest, and I was when it happened. But, like anything, you’re a big enough boy. You’ve got to move on.
“Professional sport will bring up disappointments, obviously with great moments, and there will be disappointments with it. That was probably a bit of a disappointment for myself, but, as I said, I got over it because we had a job to do at the end of last season as well.
“Then I went on the Irish tour and really, really enjoyed that and came back in at the start of the season, we had a good start to the season and, look, just one of those things that I had a decision to make, and I just took the decision that I would work outside of Munster next season.”
Prendergast said the experience hasn’t put him off his goal of eventually becoming a head coach.
He will keep his eyes open for the “right opportunity” to step up as the boss at some stage, although he believes his “next decision is something that I think is probably right for me at the moment.”
Although he couldn’t confirm whether he will be at Bath next season, Prendergast did say that the opportunity popped up, rather than him looking for a way out of Munster.
“It was more, I suppose, it popped up, to be honest,” said Prendergast.
“We’d come back and we’d settled back in. I’m from here, my wife is from here, one of my girls was born here, the other two were born in France. So that was kind of new to them coming back as well.
“Your first year, you come back, you win a league. It was a brilliant ending to it. When we came in at the start, we were all finding each other, we were playing a different brand of rugby, etc. That was a great challenge.
Prendergast and Munster boss Clayton McMillan. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
“It was a challenging year in a way, but it was a real success at the end of it to win a competition in the manner that we did. I thoroughly enjoyed that.
“Then, look, just one of those things, an opportunity comes up and you just look at yourself and there’s a lot of thought to put into it, because it’s not just about yourself, it’s about your family and everything.
“You have a career, and I’d be fairly calculated in my career and where you want to go and what you want to do and where you want to be. It was just one of those decisions that I came to, that I’d take up the opportunity elsewhere.”
The question is whether we will see Prendergast back in Irish rugby again in the future.
The 48-year-old is open-minded about that.
“Potentially,” said Prendergast. “You can never say never, and I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but in this game, you just don’t know.
“I left Ireland in 2013 thinking that… I promised my daughter at the time, she was eight years of age, and I promised her it would be for a year or two, and next thing, it’s 10 years later and we’re coming home.
“Then you come home and you probably think you’re going to be here for another 10 years, and three-and-a-half years into it, you’re diverting again. You can have a plan, absolutely, but you’ve got to be ready for ways it’s going to pull you as well.
“Sometimes it can pull you for the right reason, sometimes it can pull you for the wrong reason, and that’s where you’ve got to make your decision. That’s what I suppose I came down to.”
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'I took the decision that I would work outside of Munster next season'
IT’S NOT THAT long ago that Mike Prendergast was putting his hand up to be Munster’s head coach.
He was the favourite at one stage, but the process ended with Clayton McMillan coming in from New Zealand on a three-year deal.
And now, Prendergast is in the final few months of his time with Munster.
After a season as senior coach to McMillan, the Limerick man has decided to move on this summer, a year earlier than his contract was due to end.
Prendergast is expected to join Johann van Graan’s Bath as attack coach ahead of next season.
“Look, it’s just one of those decisions,” said Prendergast today, speaking to the media for the first time since his departure was confirmed.
“I just felt it was the right decision for myself going back a couple of months ago, and it was something I suppose I wanted to do for now.”
Prendergast is a native Munster man who played for the province in two spells and returned as attack coach under Graham Rowntree in 2022, helping Munster to an unexpected URC title at the end of their first season.
Before returning to Munster, Prendergast spent nine years coaching in France with Grenoble, Oyonnax, Stade Français, and Racing 92. He believes he grew as a coach as he worked with teams who competed at the top end and others who struggled, all in a different language with players and coaches from all over the world.
So having worked his way back to Munster, Prendergast said part of him is naturally disappointed to be leaving again after being overlooked for the head coach role last year.
“I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t disappointed,” said Prendergast.
“Look, there was a decision the club had to make and they made it. I fully respect that. I was disappointed at the time. I got over it, I got on with it. I suppose the decision came up then again, not too long ago, and it was something I had to make. That’s the kind of decision I went with.”
The Munster senior coach believes he was able to put his disappointment aside and be a positive presence in the set-up as he began working with McMillan this season.
Being an interim assistant coach with Ireland on their summer tour of Georgia and Portugal helped.
“You can’t feel sorry for yourself,” said Prendergast. “As a coach, especially, you can’t go in front of 50 or 60 lads and show disappointment.
“And I don’t think I did either, to be honest. I got over it. I was disappointed. I was very disappointed, I’ll be very honest, and I was when it happened. But, like anything, you’re a big enough boy. You’ve got to move on.
“Professional sport will bring up disappointments, obviously with great moments, and there will be disappointments with it. That was probably a bit of a disappointment for myself, but, as I said, I got over it because we had a job to do at the end of last season as well.
“Then I went on the Irish tour and really, really enjoyed that and came back in at the start of the season, we had a good start to the season and, look, just one of those things that I had a decision to make, and I just took the decision that I would work outside of Munster next season.”
Prendergast said the experience hasn’t put him off his goal of eventually becoming a head coach.
He will keep his eyes open for the “right opportunity” to step up as the boss at some stage, although he believes his “next decision is something that I think is probably right for me at the moment.”
Although he couldn’t confirm whether he will be at Bath next season, Prendergast did say that the opportunity popped up, rather than him looking for a way out of Munster.
“It was more, I suppose, it popped up, to be honest,” said Prendergast.
“We’d come back and we’d settled back in. I’m from here, my wife is from here, one of my girls was born here, the other two were born in France. So that was kind of new to them coming back as well.
“Your first year, you come back, you win a league. It was a brilliant ending to it. When we came in at the start, we were all finding each other, we were playing a different brand of rugby, etc. That was a great challenge.
“It was a challenging year in a way, but it was a real success at the end of it to win a competition in the manner that we did. I thoroughly enjoyed that.
“Then, look, just one of those things, an opportunity comes up and you just look at yourself and there’s a lot of thought to put into it, because it’s not just about yourself, it’s about your family and everything.
“You have a career, and I’d be fairly calculated in my career and where you want to go and what you want to do and where you want to be. It was just one of those decisions that I came to, that I’d take up the opportunity elsewhere.”
The question is whether we will see Prendergast back in Irish rugby again in the future.
The 48-year-old is open-minded about that.
“Potentially,” said Prendergast. “You can never say never, and I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but in this game, you just don’t know.
“I left Ireland in 2013 thinking that… I promised my daughter at the time, she was eight years of age, and I promised her it would be for a year or two, and next thing, it’s 10 years later and we’re coming home.
“Then you come home and you probably think you’re going to be here for another 10 years, and three-and-a-half years into it, you’re diverting again. You can have a plan, absolutely, but you’ve got to be ready for ways it’s going to pull you as well.
“Sometimes it can pull you for the right reason, sometimes it can pull you for the wrong reason, and that’s where you’ve got to make your decision. That’s what I suppose I came down to.”
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attack coach bath Mike Prendergast Moving On? Munster