OF GAVIN COOMES’ 21 appearances in a Munster jersey last season, 20 came in the starting team, so naturally the new role handed to him a few weeks ago required some mental adjustment.
Having previously been a mainstay in first XV, during April’s URC tour to South Africa Coombes was redeployed as an impact player in a 6/2 bench split.
It worked a treat, Munster’s bench making a notable difference against the Bulls and Lions before repeating the trick in the dominant home win against Connacht.
Now his role appears to be up for discussion on a week-by-week basis – starting against Edinburgh and Ospreys either side of coming in off the bench against Ulster. Of his last six Munster caps, four have come as a replacement.
The common theme is that Munster have won every game since tweaking things in South Africa. While Coombes admits he’d prefer to be in from the start he sees the advantages of his new responsibility, having had the reasoning laid out to him in a meeting with coaches Graham Rowntree, Mike Prendergast, Denis Leamy and Andi Kyriacou.
“I think everyone that plays rugby wants to start and try and influence the game as much as they can but I sat down with Prendy and Leams and Kyri and Wig and we spoke about it and it was about how can I affect the game when I come on and where we might be when I come on, and it’s exciting to be able to deliver something we planned during the week and for me it’s a huge opportunity to show the impact I can make off the bench as well,” says Coombes.
“Like, there’s no point in crying over these things. When I was put on the bench, I’m still involved, I’ve still got a job to do, so I can be annoyed to myself but then come Thursday, Friday, gameday, you’ve got a job to do and have to do that to the best of your ability.
“Obviously when it was first said to me I was disappointed and then you speak with the coaches and you understand it’s not all based on performance, it’s about what we want from the weekend as well.
“So obviously you’re going to be upset and pissed off, disagree with stuff, but I think it’s how you can come back from disappointment and ready yourself again for the weekend.”
With the 26-year-old bringing the desired punch when introduced, Rowntree has been left with another tough decision ahead of tomorrow’s semi-final meeting with Glasgow.
So often an 80-minute player for Munster, Coombes has seen his minutes drop closer to the half hour mark as an impact replacement, that shorter window on the pitch allowing him to start emptying the tank a little earlier. His energy across the closing stages could prove crucial in what could well be a tight, niggly encounter.
“I’m there to bring impact so you can’t really knock off. You have to be trying to win moments and be involved as much you can, that’s the way I take it and it also gives huge benefit to the lads that are on the pitch. They know there’s going to be lads coming on with 30, 20 minutes to go and they can really empty their tanks as well.
“The whole squad has bought into it and it’s been really effective so far and our focus is to keep that up.”
One concern would be that less minutes might harm his chances of playing his way back into the Ireland picture.
The Skibbereen man was capped twice with Ireland in 2021 but has been on the fringes of the squad since. He played against the Maori All Blacks and New Zealand XV in 2022 and has been part of Ireland squads around Test windows, without adding to those two caps.
Ireland remains an ambition and Coombes says he is fully aware of what Andy Farrell and Co want to see from him to earn further call-ups.
I’ve always spoken about wanting to get back in there and prove that I can play at that level and get the opportunities, but that’s out of my control.
“I’d have a good idea of what they want and conversations with Andy when I would have been up there and with Paulie on and off and stuff. So I’m well aware of what aspects they’re looking at.
“You’ve got to also look at the bigger picture. You’ve got a three-Test Lion who’s up there, you’ve got Josh van der Flier, a World Player of the Year, Caelan Doris, one of the best eights in the world and you’ve got Peter O’Mahony, then all the other lads who are top performers for their clubs as well.
“So I’m under no illusions that it is a very competitive back row. That’s not my decision to pick that team. I can only control what I can control here.”
