FOR THE SECOND season in a row, Munster exited the Champions Cup at the Round of 16 stage. It’s certainly not what Graham Rowntree’s side aspire to.
There’s no doubt a crippling injury list and the sickness that swept through their squad last week were big contributing factors to the defeat in Northampton, but this campaign wasn’t a good one overall. A defeat and a draw at home in the pool stages were damaging.
After winning the URC last season – therefore earning top seeding for the Champions Cup pools – hopes within Munster that they could make progress were high but they’ll be watching this weekend’s quarter-finals from home after fading in the final quarter at Franklin’s Gardens.
Their focus returns to the defence of their URC title. Munster currently sit fourth. They travel to South Africa next week ahead of games against the Bulls and Lions, with URC clashes against Connacht [home], Edinburgh [away], and Ulster [home] to follow.
They expect to have quite a few players back from injury in the coming weeks, including RG Snyman, and they’re intent on retaining their URC crown.
All the while, Munster continue to plan for next season and another tilt at the Champions Cup.
There’s no doubt a lack of luck on the injury front was a factor in them limping into the Round of 16 and getting knocked out by Northampton. An injury crisis in the winter left Munster without 20 players at one point, while they were missing 17 last weekend for the Northampton game. They included first-choice players like Oli Jager, Diarmuid Barron, Jean Kleyn, Calvin Nash, Shane Daly, and others who would have played a part.
Munster have changed the way they train since Graham Rowntree took over in the summer of 2022, moving to a higher-intensity approach, and though that initially involved lots of physical adaptation and some soft-tissue injuries in his first season, this campaign’s injury travails have been fairly freakish, with lots of impact injuries.
Throw in the bug that hit the squad last week and Munster were undoubtedly up against it in Northampton. Snyman was ruled out and nearly hospitalised with his virus, while a host of players who did start, such as Gavin Coombes and Craig Casey, had been sick all week and were visibly struggling in Northampton.
And yet, Rowntree and captain Tadhg Beirne rejected those circumstances as an excuse for defeat. Instead, they looked at their missed chances and basic errors as the key. Munster were disappointed to concede two tries on set-piece defence, as well as failing to get in front before the final quarter when Saints’ superior bench was sure to be influential.
This summer promises to be one of further change in the southern province. Snyman is leaving for Leinster and though he obviously hasn’t played much rugby in his four seasons with Munster, he is a world-class player.
Joey Carbery has also confirmed his exit as he gets set to join Bordeaux, while it looks increasingly possible that Antoine Frisch will go to the Top 14 this summer.
Senior players like Simon Zebo, Dave Kilcoyne, and Stephen Archer are out of contract at the end of this campaign and could depart, depending on Munster’s final decisions, while former captain Peter O’Mahony has yet to confirm his future. The 34-year-old has been offered a contract by Munster and the IRFU, a provincial deal topped up by the union, but it remains to be seen whether he takes it.
After it initially looked like Conor Murray could move on, he has signed up for another season, but it certainly feels like the changing of the guard is continuing in Munster.
The concern for supporters is that there have only been two new signings confirmed at this stage. Tall, athletic 23-year-old wing Diarmuid Kilgallen looks like a smart addition from Connacht, while Munster are happy about convincing 29-year-old Billy Burns to come south from Ulster on a one-year deal at what is seen as good value to back up Jack Crowley, as well as offer guidance to younger out-halves like Tony Butler and Dylan Hicks.
However, it’s understood that Munster will make at least two more new signings ahead of next season, while tighthead Jager only joined as recently as December, having initially been lined up to make the move from Crusaders later this year.
With four or five youngsters in line to be promoted from the Munster academy into the senior squad, the southern province could end up having 41 senior players again next season.
If Frisch leaves for one of the Top 14 clubs who are sniffing around, Munster will expect to receive a transfer fee given that his contract runs until 2025. However, it’s not thought that it would be a large sum that could be sunk into a big-name signing.
Still, any influx of cash would help if Frisch departs. It’s understood that Munster are not in a particularly strong financial position and that the IRFU has directed them to reduce their budget in terms of player salaries.
Last season, the IRFU converted more than €4 million of Munster’s “operational debt” into a long-term loan, meaning the province now owes the IRFU a total of €10.75 million when also factoring in the remaining sum owed for the redevelopment of Thomond Park in 2007/08. This conversion of operational debt was accompanied by a renegotiation of Munster’s loan repayments to the IRFU, which have risen from €100,000 per season to €200,000 per season.
So it’s unlikely that Munster will make an expensive, high-profile signing this summer. They had been linked with a move for Montpellier wing George Bridge but the Kiwi’s contract in France runs until 2025 so he could be a target at that stage instead.
Frisch’s possible departure would leave a hole. Current wing/fullback Shane Daly was an outside centre for the Ireland U20s in 2016 and though Seán O’Brien has played exclusively on the wing this season, he was predominantly a centre for Connacht and Exeter before joining Munster.
Munster also have high hopes for several midfield prospects coming through their pathway in the next few years but may still need to add another senior player in the short term. That player would have to be Irish-qualified.
They have been linked with Leicester centre Dan Kelly but he is understood to be in contract until 2025. The ex-Ireland U20 centre was capped once by England in 2021 so he becomes Ireland-eligible again this summer. It could be that he comes firmly onto the radar for Munster and the other provinces next year.
In terms of options within the other provinces, Connacht’s Tom Farrell is out of contract this summer and seems like the profile of player Munster could benefit from bringing in if Frisch goes.
There have been regular calls for Munster to strengthen their front row options with the addition of a heavyweight loosehead prop or hooker, including on these pages, but it’s understood that their hands are tied in this regard.
As things stand, it appears that Munster do not have IRFU approval to recruit a non-Irish-qualified [NIQ] player at loosehead or hooker.
First-choice hooker Diarmuid Barron is contracted until 2026 and second-choice Niall Scannell’s deal runs until 2025. That means it would likely be next year at the earliest that Munster attempt to recruit a hooker, potentially making the case to the IRFU for an NIQ player at that stage.
Munster were linked with Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar earlier this season but it’s believed that he will not be joining them. They were also thought to be interested in Leinster loosehead prop Michael Milne but it seems he has decided to stay where he is.
Snyman has obviously been on a big contract in Munster, particularly in his first two seasons, but it’s understood that that was largely funded by a group of private investors known as The 1014.
It seems that the private investors were happy to provide that funding for a specific player like Snyman, rather than just contributing to Munster’s overall budget for the province to spend as they saw fit. So Snyman leaving doesn’t mean Munster suddenly have loads of space in their budget.
That’s not to say Munster won’t benefit from further private investment, even if it might not be for player signings. Indeed, it’s understood that the province have already used outside financial support to bulk up their psychology and S&C programmes.
There are also tentative plans to sink private investment into their player pathways to produce more homegrown players. It’s not hard to imagine how much impact even one year’s worth of Snyman’s salary could have if used to fund the development of young players.
The province have been running more Munster Rugby dinners in cities like London and New York in recent times, bringing the Irish diaspora closer to the province and also connecting with possible investors.
Right now, there is a sense on the outside that Munster’s squad may be weaker next season given the outgoings, but Rowntree and co. seem to feel they are where they need to be with the renewal of this squad.
One of Rowntree’s key messages upon taking over as head coach was that the playing squad needed a refresh after such a long time without trophy success. His conviction that Munster-produced talent could be the core of the squad partly helped him to get the job.
And there is excitement among supporters about that crop of homegrown players.
Players like Crowley, Calvin Nash, Craig Casey, Gavin Coombes, John Hodnett, Barron, Tom Ahern, and Alex Kendellen are all in or around their mid-20s and have taken on ever-growing prominence within the squad.
Munster have invested an increasing amount of their budget in these players, who will probably become more expensive as their experience grows. That none of them are on IRFU central contracts mean they’re all in the Munster budget. In fact, Beirne will be the only Munster player on a full IRFU central contract next season as things stand.
One of Rowntree’s other beliefs was that high-quality coaching could improve players who appeared to have plateaued or hit their ceiling of potential with Munster in recent years.
A URC trophy in his first season suggests there was progress on that front, with attack coach Mike Prendergast and defence coach Denis Leamy impressing the players. Mossy Lawlor was added as a skills coach last summer, a position Munster had clearly needed to add to their coaching ticket for years.
More experienced figures like Beirne, who will presumably be named permanent captain, and fullback Mike Haley, will be crucial into next season and hopefully beyond. Kiwi centre Alex Nankivell has been an excellent signing and is also contracted until 2025, while tighthead prop Jager was a clever addition.
Munster will hope for more luck with injuries, of course. Explosive tighthead prop Roman Salanoa had been playing good rugby and even been on the periphery of the Ireland squad before his latest struggles, while Munster will hope World Cup-winning second row Kleyn recovers fully from eye surgery.
Then there are the younger Munster guns who have obvious potential. Rowntree has given lots of academy players chances already.
Second row Edwin Edogbo [15 senior appearances] has already shown strongly and though he has been unlucky with two serious Achilles tendon injuries, Munster expect him to become a force.
Back row Brian Gleeson [9 appearances] is also currently injured but is an elite prospect, while Ruadhan Quinn [7] is another exciting player in that department.
21-year-old Ennis halfbacks Ethan Coughlan [7] and Tony Butler [10] have shown promise in their senior appearances, while loosehead props Mark Donnelly [8] and Kieran Ryan [3], as well as outside backs Shay McCarthy [7] and Ben O’Connor [5], have also featured for Rowntree’s team.
Evan O’Connell has been impressive in captaining the Ireland U20s this season, his second at that level, while hooker Danny Sheahan, and back rows Sean Edogbo and Luke Murphy contributed to a strong Six Nations campaign too.
Munster would love to see more front row talent emerge from the academy. Tighthead props Darragh McSweeney and Ronan Foxe are both big men but stepping up to senior level is always a tough ask.
These prospects are the product of a Munster pipeline that the IRFU believe has improved drastically in recent years. Indeed, Munster seemingly feel the next layer of talent underneath their academy is outstanding too.
Ireland U19 centre Gene O’Leary-Kareem is among the players who will likely go straight into the academy out of school next season, a growing trend in Munster as they fast-track the best talent.
Former professional players Tommy O’Donnell, Sean Cronin, and Ian Keatley are among the coaches working in the Munster pathway, while ex-Ireland 7s women’s head coach Aiden McNulty was another addition to the development staff.
Gearóid Prendergast joined the province as academy manager last summer as Ian Costello stepped up from that role to his current position as director of rugby operations, a job that involves overseeing the player pathway but also focusing on senior player retention, recruitment, and succession planning.
But all of that work being done in the pipeline isn’t going to affect how the rest of this season and next season go for Munster, even if the province are convinced that the increased focus on producing their own players will prove hugely successful for them.
The process of youngsters in their early 20s turning into players who can impact Champions Cup games can take years, so while there is homegrown talent coming through now, the reality is that Munster still might have to pay the price for previously fallow years in their pipeline.
Clearly, it might take a few years before Munster are back to being among the strongest teams in the Champions Cup. And there’s always a chance that the strategy can’t take them back to that level. There are no guarantees in professional sport.
Munster could certainly do with more luck on the injury front next season, but they must also hope the new core of this squad and the exciting emerging talent can start to bridge the gap.
