MUNSTER’S ATTACK COACH Mike Prendergast has signed a two-year contract extension.
The news comes hours after the province announced that Denis Leamy, their defence coach, signed a two-year extension.
Now in his third season at Munster, Prendergast returned to the province in 2022 after a successful 10-year spell in France coaching at clubs such as Racing 92, Stade Francais, Oyonnax and Grenoble.
A former Munster, Bourgoin and Gloucester scrum-half, Prendergast held head coach and director of rugby roles with Young Munster RFC on completion of his playing career.
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Leamy has also signed a two-year extension with the southern province which will keep him in Limerick until the summer of 2027.
Munster defence coach Denis Leamy. Ken Sutton / INPHO
Ken Sutton / INPHO / INPHO
Leamy was due to be out of contract at the end of the current campaign, which is his third with Munster since joining from Leinster as part of Graham Rowntree’s coaching ticket in 2022.
Leamy’s extension is an indication that either Munster believe their new head coach is already in the building or that an external candidate will be comfortable working within something resembling the province’s existing coaching structure.
During Leamy’s first two seasons back at Thomond Park, Munster’s defence became the meanest in the URC and was one of the key pillars upon which they achieved their drought-ending URC triumph in 2023.
Last season, Munster conceded a league-lowest 18 points per game on average, topping the URC regular-season table before running out of steam at the semi-final stage.
This season has made for a different story so far, with the porous Munster currently sitting 12th in the table with the fourth-worst points difference in the league.
Head coach Rowntree and forwards coach Andi Kyriacou have departed the province since they last took to the field in competitive action, with the full-time head coaching position — currently filled by interim boss Ian Costello — still vacant. Ireland women’s forwards coach Alex Codling, meanwhile, will deputise for Kyriacou on a short-term consultancy basis.
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Mike Prendergast joins Denis Leamy in signing two-year extension with Munster
LAST UPDATE | 26 Nov
MUNSTER’S ATTACK COACH Mike Prendergast has signed a two-year contract extension.
The news comes hours after the province announced that Denis Leamy, their defence coach, signed a two-year extension.
Now in his third season at Munster, Prendergast returned to the province in 2022 after a successful 10-year spell in France coaching at clubs such as Racing 92, Stade Francais, Oyonnax and Grenoble.
A former Munster, Bourgoin and Gloucester scrum-half, Prendergast held head coach and director of rugby roles with Young Munster RFC on completion of his playing career.
Leamy has also signed a two-year extension with the southern province which will keep him in Limerick until the summer of 2027.
Leamy was due to be out of contract at the end of the current campaign, which is his third with Munster since joining from Leinster as part of Graham Rowntree’s coaching ticket in 2022.
Leamy’s extension is an indication that either Munster believe their new head coach is already in the building or that an external candidate will be comfortable working within something resembling the province’s existing coaching structure.
During Leamy’s first two seasons back at Thomond Park, Munster’s defence became the meanest in the URC and was one of the key pillars upon which they achieved their drought-ending URC triumph in 2023.
Last season, Munster conceded a league-lowest 18 points per game on average, topping the URC regular-season table before running out of steam at the semi-final stage.
This season has made for a different story so far, with the porous Munster currently sitting 12th in the table with the fourth-worst points difference in the league.
Head coach Rowntree and forwards coach Andi Kyriacou have departed the province since they last took to the field in competitive action, with the full-time head coaching position — currently filled by interim boss Ian Costello — still vacant. Ireland women’s forwards coach Alex Codling, meanwhile, will deputise for Kyriacou on a short-term consultancy basis.
Munster host the fourth-placed Lions at Thomond Park this Saturday (7:35pm) having provided decidedly mixed news on the injury front earlier this morning.
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