IT’S ALMOST A decade since Rob Penney turned down a third-year option at Munster and moved to Japan to coach the Shining Arcs.
Penney would have loved to have extended his tenure with the southern province but, following back-to-back seasons in which he had steered Munster to Champions Cup semi-finals, he found himself at wit’s end.
Munster at the time was an institution so obsessed with its own history that it was allergic to change. Penney’s attempts to evolve the club both on and off the field were deemed too radical, both by influential players and suits. In the end, the pushback wasn’t worth the hassle to Penney, who had earned a lucrative offer to move closer to home in any case.
The Munster to which he returns 10 years later with the Crusaders is a lot closer to what he would have envisioned. There’s a centre of excellence in Limerick, the academy is back on track, and the sight of back-five forwards lurking on the edges is no longer taboo.
The Penney family loved living in Cork between 2012 and 2014. Rob and his wife, Erin, have been back to visit friends a couple of times since.
But there is something a touch more profound about being back this time in a rugby capacity, as the Crusaders’ pre-season tour pits Penney against his former employers at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
“Did I miss it?” Penney repeats a question to himself. “Certainly lots of elements.
“The people I love in the organisation; I’ve still got a lot of time and passion for Munster.
It’s wonderful to be back. It’s actually a little bit emotional, to be fair. And I’m very humbled and honoured to be here representing the place I love the most — but Munster would be a close second!
Players and staff across the Crusaders organisation have this week raved about the hospitality they’ve received on Leeside.
But their head coach is uniquely positioned atop a young touring group to convey the hostility that will await them once they cross the whitewash for Saturday’s one-off encounter between the respective champions of the URC and Super Rugby.
That over 40,000 Munster supporters will turn out at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the middle of the Six Nations to watch two sides shorn of their internationals meet in a ‘friendly’ match tells its own story, and Penney has been keen to impress that story onto his players since they arrived in Cork on Monday.
“What touches me about Munster emotionally is that there’s a lot of synergy,” he says. “[There are] lots of similarities between Crusaders and our region and Munster and your region.
“The passion of the people, the dedication to the team, the values and standards they hold are very similar. I’ve relayed that message to the boys.
We’ve had some images of the Fields of Athenry and Zombie being sung heartily by the Munster supporters, who are some of the best in the world and most respectful, but also the most passionate about their men. Those sorts of seeds have been set.
“Our boys are very excited and honoured to be in front of that big a crowd here in Cork for a great occasion.”
Crusaders’ tour captain Quinten Strange will first enjoy a private audience with former teammate Oli Jager, with whom he is due to catch up over coffee later today. “That’ll be interesting,” says the 27-year-old lock.
The niceties will end there, though.
For Rob Penney and his new coaching ticket, this pre-season tour of Ireland and England (Crusaders face Bristol next week) is about forging personal connections between fresh faces, establishing working relationships between mini units, and nailing down goals for the upcoming Super Rugby campaign — which kicks off away to the Chiefs on 23 February in a repeat of last year’s final.
But as Quinten Strange puts it on behalf of the Crusaders’ players, “We’re not over here as a little trial run: we want to win.
“We’re well aware that Munster are a successful club, full of great players, and I’m pretty sure they’ll want to climb into us, so I think it’s going to be a really exciting game.
“I think there’ll definitely be an edge. Both teams will want to come out on top and have those bragging rights. I’m bloody excited for it.”
Strange, meanwhile, acknowledged that Penney had stressed to his side the extent of the welcome that awaits them at the Páirc on Saturday evening, which will be both raucous and “respectful”.
But the Kiwis’ skipper stressed that the Crusaders’ focus on the atmosphere was “more about the young guys getting a crack”.
“It could be the first time that some of them play in front of a big crowd, so we’ve just been speaking around how we deal with that and how, as a group, we just want to go out there and play.”
Off the field, though, the uncapped former All Blacks call-up has enjoyed his first visit to the southern province — despite the 4am starts as Crusaders seek to gradually align their body clocks with Saturday’s kick-off.
“The sleep is starting to come right,” says Strange.
“It’s actually been really good, eh? It’s a different culture and the people have been really nice. Like, [Munster fans] all love the Crusaders and we’ve had a lot of support — but they always say they don’t want us to do well… I think they’re still cheering for Munster!
“I’ve been through a fair few pre-seasons, now, but none like this. It’s been really good fun. We just want to get the results as well.”
Tuesday, too, was unprecedented, at least in Rob Penney’s experience of the southern province: a January day in Cork of 12 or 13 degrees, no wind, and firm underfoot.
Crusaders trained at the Wilton ground of Presentation Brothers College, with Pres’ 2024 Senior Cup team observing the session from the sideline.
What would Penney’s sons, Alex and Cameron — both former students at Pres’ cross-city rivals Christians — make of their father’s scheduling?
“We’re up there on Thursday!” Penney says of his sons’ old haunt. “We’re sharing the love.”
Crusaders will host a Q&A for ex-pat supporters that same evening, while the days ahead will see the Super Rugby champions welcome people from several clubs and schools across Munster behind the scenes for a glimpse at how they operate.
“We’re very humbled by the reception we’ve got,” says Penney.
“I think there’s a lot of positivity around pressing the flesh with people. We’ve been inundated with requests from clubs to allow coaching staff to come in and have a look at what we do — medical, S&C, across the board — and we’re really receptive to that because that relationship piece is really important to the growth of our game and the security of it going forward.
“Also, the relationships long-term usually have a funny way of working out to be really, really positive.”