MUNSTER HAVE confirmed the signing of Mike Prendergast as part of Graham Rowntree’s new coaching team ahead of next season.

Rowntree will take over from Johann van Graan as Munster head coach this summer, with Prendergast set to be a key part of the new staff.

Munster Rugby and the IRFU confirmed today that Prendergast will join the province as attack coach on a three-year contract ahead of the 2022/23 season.

As previously reported by The42, Rowntree and Munster have been extremely keen to bring Prendergast on board. A deal has now been struck with his current club, Racing 92, to get him released from his contract in France a year early.

The42 understands that Denis Leamy and Andy Kyriacou are also set to be part of Rowntree’s new coaching team.

44-year-old Prendergast is in line to return to his home province to run their attack, taking over from current senior coach Stephen Larkham in charge of that area of the game.

A report from French publication Midi Olympique says that Racing have already moved to sign a replacement for Prendergast, with Englishman Rory Teague set to come in.

Prendergast is also quoted by Midi Olympique explaining his decision to move back to Munster, where he played as a scrum-half from 2001 to 2006 and then again for one season before hanging his boots up in 2009.

“It’s a family choice above all,” Prendergast is quoted as saying by Midi Olympique.

“I was really happy at Racing, I had an excellent relationship with [head coach] Laurent Travers and [president] Jacky Lorenzetti, but some family matters are pushing me to return home.

“Before then, I hope we will have a great end to the season and win a trophy for this club.”

After retiring from playing, Prendergast moved full-time into the world of coaching as Young Munster’s director of rugby in the All-Ireland League, before he joined Bernard Jackman at Top 14 club Grenoble in 2013, initially as a skills coach but with a broader remit in the seasons that followed.

Prendergast moved on to Oyonnax for the 2017/18 season, greatly enhancing his reputation as their attack coach despite the club’s relegation from the Top 14.

The Limerick man joined Stade Français for the 2018/19 campaign but had a frustrating experience there working under Heyneke Meyer and opted to move on to Racing in the summer of 2019.

The Parisians have played dazzling attacking rugby under Prendergast’s guidance and though they have undoubtedly benefited from the presence of many star players, his influence is highly rated by the squad at the Top 14 club.

Prendergast has a particularly strong focus on the breakdown when it comes to attack and is viewed as a coach who empowers his players to take lots of decision-making responsibility. He is also regarded as being someone who brings sharp detail to set-piece attack and focuses strongly on counter-attack.

The 44-year-old, who also played with Gloucester and Bourgoin, is likely to be a popular appointment by Munster given that he is homegrown but has also gone elsewhere to prove himself and have different experiences as a player and coach.

It’s understood Rowntree identified him as a key part of his coaching team from the very first interview he did for the head coach role in Munster. Negotiations with Racing were necessary, with the IRFU and Munster having to stump up financially to get Prendergast out of the last year of his contract in France, but they have secured their man.

Rowntree is also set to be joined by former Munster man Denis Leamy, who is in line to be the province’s new defence coach next season.

Leamy is currently working with Leinster as their contact skills coach and was part of Leo Cullen’s matchday coaching staff on their recent URC tour of South Africa, but will add another homegrown face to the Munster coaching team next season.

The42 understands that current academy forwards coach Andy Kyriacou is also set to be part of Rowntree’s staff.

The former Saracens and Ulster hooker had a loan spell with Munster back in 2006/07 and moved into coaching after a back injury forced him to retire from playing in 2013.

Kyriacou moved into coaching with Cardiff and also had spells with Russia, Sale, and Nottingham before he moved to Munster as part of their academy set-up in 2021.

Kyriacou is now in line for a promotion to the senior coaching staff and is expected to act as an assistant forwards coach, given that Rowntree will have a much broader remit as he steps up to the head coach role.