TODAY IS THE day the real work starts at Munster. Having negotiated their way through a challenging week which started with Graham Rowntree departing the province and ended with Saturday’s thrilling Thomond Park clash against an All Blacks XV, the balls and bibs will be packed away as focus turns to the boardrooms and offices at Munster HQ. Saturday’s entertaining 38-24 loss to the All Blacks was the last day of work for the players before a welcome 10-day break.
Those not involved in Ireland’s November internationals will use the time to decompress after a difficult start to the season which yielded just two wins from their opening six games. For the Munster staff, there’s no such luxury as this morning was marked in as the real start of the recruitment process for their next permanent head coach. Head of Rugby Operations Ian Costello, was is currently deputising as interim head coach, outlined last week that CVs were already flying in from around the world.
Interest may be high, but getting the right man is crucial for a province who are determined to be competitive on two fronts come the business end of the season. “There is a bit of work in profiling the coach we are looking for, how they would add to what we have already because genuinely we feel like we are doing an awful lot of things really well and that alignment and integration, we want someone that is going to add to that,” Costello says. “If it takes a month, if it takes three months, if it takes sev.