AFTER AN UNHAPPY period in Munster, two promising coaching appointments in the past week have provided a very timely boost for everyone associated with the province.
New forwards coach Jimmy Duffy comes with a reputation for helping players to improve, and the same is true of Jared Payne, who will work on Munster’s attack along with Mossy Lawler.
The Munster players are likely to be content with how the province’s coaching team has come together in the wake of the uncertainty caused by previous forwards coach Alex Codling agreeing a move to Toulon and Roger Randle’s contract as attack coach being cancelled.
Payne returns to Irish rugby after a four-year absence that has seen him get different perspectives on the game. He was only in France for a year with Clermont, but coaching in the Top 14 is always educational.
Payne subsequently spent three seasons working with fellow ex-Ulster coach Dwayne Peel in Wales and while Scarlets didn’t enjoy major success, Payne continued to build his knowledge and experience.
He was an intelligent player in his time with the Crusaders, Blues, Ulster and Ireland, capable of impressing at both outside centre and fullback. Payne always seemed a likely coach thanks to his understanding of the game and thoughtful approach.
He was an excellent defender, so it made sense for him to start in that area with Ulster when he was forced to retire from playing due to concussion. His role with Clermont was also defence-focused and while he started at Scarlets as attack and backs coach, he moved back to defence.
Payne has signed for Munster with an attacking remit and his views on that side of the game will surely be well-informed by having spent so much of his coaching career in defence.
He now has the intriguing task of unlocking defences, teaming up with Lawler, who is well-regarded by Munster boss McMillan.
Even before Randle was announced, McMillan made it clear that then-assistant attack and skills coach Lawler had an important role to play with Munster. Now, Lawler has been handed a bumped-up contract as assistant coach until 2028.
McMillan has stressed that coaching attack is a “two-person job.” With strike plays from set-piece, phase-play attack, the role of kicking, and the ever-increasing importance of transition attack, there is lots for Payne and Lawler to sink their teeth into.
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Mossy Lawler is well regarded by McMillan. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
McMillan will set the attacking philosophy. This is his Munster team. Mike Prendergast, who has now left his role as senior coach, was in charge of the Munster attack when McMillan arrived last summer. There must have been some wariness about the pair of them stepping on each other’s toes, all the more so given that Prendergast had gone for the head coach role that McMillan was eventually appointed to.
Now, there is no doubt about who is painting the picture for Munster. Lawler was obviously aligned with Prendergast’s attacking approach, and Payne will have his own ideas, but McMillan will set the agenda for them.
Payne hasn’t got much experience of coaching attack at professional level, but he is known as a good coach. Ulster’s players valued his contributions hugely during his four years as defence coach, with Payne’s technical and tactical expertise earning him impressive reviews. It’s also said he was an excellent influence on the province’s young players off the pitch, with many of them building strong connections with him.
It’s thought that Payne moved on from Ulster in 2022, and he followed Jono Gibbes to Clermont, although that adventure only lasted a year before Payne switched to Scarlets.
You could essentially copy and paste the reports about Payne in Ulster during his three years with Scarlets. He was well-liked in the Welsh region’s squad.
It was March of this year when Payne confirmed he was stepping down from his position with Scarlets, and he left with glowing words of appreciation.
There was much interest in where the former Ireland international would end up, and Munster seemed like a possible fit until the announcement that Randle was coming from New Zealand. Indeed, it’s thought Payne was on the original list of contenders.
The Randle signing proved short-lived, however, and Munster were quickly back in the market. Happily, Payne was still available and McMillan is happy to have landed his fellow Kiwi on a two-year deal.
There are similar feelings about Duffy coming in as forwards coach. He is not a hugely high-profile appointment, but the Galway man is a respected figure in coaching, as well as being a talented abstract artist in his spare time.
He was part of Pat Lam’s Connacht ticket that led the province to their Pro 12 glory in 2016. After six years in charge of the westerners’ forwards, he moved on to a new challenge with the Ireland U20s.
Jimmy Duffy joins Munster from Ulster. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
A fascinating move to the Western Force in Super Rugby followed, with Duffy getting a fresh view of the game in his two years in Perth. He returned to Irish rugby with Ulster in 2024 and did a fine job with their forwards for two seasons.
It was also March when Duffy confirmed he would be leaving Ulster this summer to be closer to his family in Galway. Former forwards coach Codling has departed to join Toulon, and Duffy was a particularly suitable fit to replace him.
As with Payne, Duffy is seen as a coach who delights in the technical detail and strategy of the game, and has a reputation for improving young players, but he also brings an edge to his coaching.
Duffy is not just a lineout and maul technician. He coaches the scrum too. That means Seán Cronin will revert to his role as a provincial talent coach in the Munster pathway on a full-time basis, having worked with the senior team’s scrum for the 2025/26 season.
Former back row McMillan has plenty of experience coaching forwards himself, so he will have clear views on how he wants Duffy to guide Munster’s pack.
Denis Leamy is contracted until 2027 as Munster’s defence coach, so the announcement of Payne means the southern province’s coaching team is complete well in advance of the start of pre-season for the 2026/27 campaign.
This all comes with the dust still settling on a tumultuous 2025/26 season in Munster.
There were doubts about McMillan’s future at one stage, but those have been quashed and the New Zealander is here to stay into next season.
2026/27 is a campaign that will, thankfully, include Champions Cup rugby after Munster secured their qualification in the URC regular season. They were hugely depleted by injuries for the quarter-final visit to the Bulls, who blew them away in Pretoria.
Few teams could have handled the absence of so many frontline players, particularly pivotal figures in Jack Crowley and Tadhg Beirne.
In terms of goals next season, Munster will be chasing a top-four finish in the URC, which would give them a home quarter-final, as well as ensuring Champions Cup qualification again.
They will hope for a decent draw in the Champions Cup for 2026/27 and the target will certainly be reaching the knock-outs, having dropped out at the pool stage and down into the Challenge Cup this season.
Off the pitch, other questions remain, as the independent governance and organisational review into Munster continues, but the appointments of Duffy and Payne have given the rugby side of things a much-needed boost.
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Coaching appointments give McMillan's Munster a timely boost
AFTER AN UNHAPPY period in Munster, two promising coaching appointments in the past week have provided a very timely boost for everyone associated with the province.
New forwards coach Jimmy Duffy comes with a reputation for helping players to improve, and the same is true of Jared Payne, who will work on Munster’s attack along with Mossy Lawler.
The Munster players are likely to be content with how the province’s coaching team has come together in the wake of the uncertainty caused by previous forwards coach Alex Codling agreeing a move to Toulon and Roger Randle’s contract as attack coach being cancelled.
Payne returns to Irish rugby after a four-year absence that has seen him get different perspectives on the game. He was only in France for a year with Clermont, but coaching in the Top 14 is always educational.
Payne subsequently spent three seasons working with fellow ex-Ulster coach Dwayne Peel in Wales and while Scarlets didn’t enjoy major success, Payne continued to build his knowledge and experience.
He was an intelligent player in his time with the Crusaders, Blues, Ulster and Ireland, capable of impressing at both outside centre and fullback. Payne always seemed a likely coach thanks to his understanding of the game and thoughtful approach.
He was an excellent defender, so it made sense for him to start in that area with Ulster when he was forced to retire from playing due to concussion. His role with Clermont was also defence-focused and while he started at Scarlets as attack and backs coach, he moved back to defence.
Payne has signed for Munster with an attacking remit and his views on that side of the game will surely be well-informed by having spent so much of his coaching career in defence.
He now has the intriguing task of unlocking defences, teaming up with Lawler, who is well-regarded by Munster boss McMillan.
Even before Randle was announced, McMillan made it clear that then-assistant attack and skills coach Lawler had an important role to play with Munster. Now, Lawler has been handed a bumped-up contract as assistant coach until 2028.
McMillan has stressed that coaching attack is a “two-person job.” With strike plays from set-piece, phase-play attack, the role of kicking, and the ever-increasing importance of transition attack, there is lots for Payne and Lawler to sink their teeth into.
McMillan will set the attacking philosophy. This is his Munster team. Mike Prendergast, who has now left his role as senior coach, was in charge of the Munster attack when McMillan arrived last summer. There must have been some wariness about the pair of them stepping on each other’s toes, all the more so given that Prendergast had gone for the head coach role that McMillan was eventually appointed to.
Now, there is no doubt about who is painting the picture for Munster. Lawler was obviously aligned with Prendergast’s attacking approach, and Payne will have his own ideas, but McMillan will set the agenda for them.
Payne hasn’t got much experience of coaching attack at professional level, but he is known as a good coach. Ulster’s players valued his contributions hugely during his four years as defence coach, with Payne’s technical and tactical expertise earning him impressive reviews. It’s also said he was an excellent influence on the province’s young players off the pitch, with many of them building strong connections with him.
It’s thought that Payne moved on from Ulster in 2022, and he followed Jono Gibbes to Clermont, although that adventure only lasted a year before Payne switched to Scarlets.
You could essentially copy and paste the reports about Payne in Ulster during his three years with Scarlets. He was well-liked in the Welsh region’s squad.
It was March of this year when Payne confirmed he was stepping down from his position with Scarlets, and he left with glowing words of appreciation.
There was much interest in where the former Ireland international would end up, and Munster seemed like a possible fit until the announcement that Randle was coming from New Zealand. Indeed, it’s thought Payne was on the original list of contenders.
The Randle signing proved short-lived, however, and Munster were quickly back in the market. Happily, Payne was still available and McMillan is happy to have landed his fellow Kiwi on a two-year deal.
There are similar feelings about Duffy coming in as forwards coach. He is not a hugely high-profile appointment, but the Galway man is a respected figure in coaching, as well as being a talented abstract artist in his spare time.
He was part of Pat Lam’s Connacht ticket that led the province to their Pro 12 glory in 2016. After six years in charge of the westerners’ forwards, he moved on to a new challenge with the Ireland U20s.
A fascinating move to the Western Force in Super Rugby followed, with Duffy getting a fresh view of the game in his two years in Perth. He returned to Irish rugby with Ulster in 2024 and did a fine job with their forwards for two seasons.
It was also March when Duffy confirmed he would be leaving Ulster this summer to be closer to his family in Galway. Former forwards coach Codling has departed to join Toulon, and Duffy was a particularly suitable fit to replace him.
As with Payne, Duffy is seen as a coach who delights in the technical detail and strategy of the game, and has a reputation for improving young players, but he also brings an edge to his coaching.
Duffy is not just a lineout and maul technician. He coaches the scrum too. That means Seán Cronin will revert to his role as a provincial talent coach in the Munster pathway on a full-time basis, having worked with the senior team’s scrum for the 2025/26 season.
Former back row McMillan has plenty of experience coaching forwards himself, so he will have clear views on how he wants Duffy to guide Munster’s pack.
Denis Leamy is contracted until 2027 as Munster’s defence coach, so the announcement of Payne means the southern province’s coaching team is complete well in advance of the start of pre-season for the 2026/27 campaign.
This all comes with the dust still settling on a tumultuous 2025/26 season in Munster.
There were doubts about McMillan’s future at one stage, but those have been quashed and the New Zealander is here to stay into next season.
2026/27 is a campaign that will, thankfully, include Champions Cup rugby after Munster secured their qualification in the URC regular season. They were hugely depleted by injuries for the quarter-final visit to the Bulls, who blew them away in Pretoria.
Few teams could have handled the absence of so many frontline players, particularly pivotal figures in Jack Crowley and Tadhg Beirne.
In terms of goals next season, Munster will be chasing a top-four finish in the URC, which would give them a home quarter-final, as well as ensuring Champions Cup qualification again.
They will hope for a decent draw in the Champions Cup for 2026/27 and the target will certainly be reaching the knock-outs, having dropped out at the pool stage and down into the Challenge Cup this season.
Off the pitch, other questions remain, as the independent governance and organisational review into Munster continues, but the appointments of Duffy and Payne have given the rugby side of things a much-needed boost.
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coaches expertise jared payne jimmy duffy Mossy Lawler Munster