GRAHAM ROWNTREE KNEW there were some raised eyebrows when he got the Munster job in 2022. He got the feeling that people were wondering, ‘Are you up to this?’
It hadn’t helped that Munster and the IRFU had taken so long to confirm his appointment. Rowntree had put his hand up, stating his desire to be promoted from his assistant coach role when Johann van Graan confirmed he would be leaving. Rowntree was interviewed but still hadn’t got an answer many weeks later.
Munster were assessing their options, seeing who else was out there, and Rowntree had to show great patience before he was finally confirmed as van Graan’s successor.
With those questions about his ascension in mind, Rowntree’s first season couldn’t have ended much better. The doubters were emboldened by Munster’s initial efforts, results and performances hit by the Emerging Ireland tour and the major changes happening behind the scenes in how the province trained.
But it all came good as Munster went on a magnificent run away from home to claim the URC title with a brilliant win over the Stormers in Cape Town.
The difficult second year proved to be exactly that, a mid-season injury crisis greatly affecting matters. A second consecutive round of 16 exit in the Champions Cup and defeat in a home URC semi-final against Glasgow left Munster disappointed.
So as he gets set for his third season as a head coach – this evening’s inter-pro against Connacht at Thomond Park [KO 5.30pm] getting their campaign underway – you wonder whether Rowntree is enjoying the job more now or finding it more stressful?
“Both,” he says. “I enjoy it, and it’s more stressful.
“It’s a valid answer, it’s true! There’s a different stress. There’s an expectancy now.”
Rowntree says the biggest thing he has gained since taking on this job in 2022 is pure experience. Nothing can truly prepare you for the challenges head coaching throws at you.
“I’ve been through some things that I hadn’t, with the injury crisis, players retiring, players coming off national contracts, their negotiations.
“There’s a lot to manage and I’m very lucky I’ve got some good people around me, Cossie [Ian Costello, Munster's head of rugby operations] being one of them. Great coaches, a great coaching team that’s going to keep us pointing the right way.
“We’re managing different things every day. Player availability, injuries, media – which you get comfortable with as you get older. That’s what I have realised about this job, people who do this job in their early 40s… you know, I couldn’t have done this job four years ago. You’ve just got to have been through a few things to keep everything in the right.
“It’s all context, how you think about things. You’ve just got to keep a level of stability when things are being thrown at you. I sound like some Ted Talk now! But what can you do?
“Control what you can and keep everyone around you steady. Just keep them thinking calmly.”
Keeping things steady is surely more difficult in Munster than most places. For some reason, there never seems to be a dull moment in the southern province.
Whether it’s big transfer news dropping days before a crucial game, rumours of a falling out, news from behind the scenes leaking out of camp, or crippling injury lists, there is always something going on in Munster.
Although he had been with Munster for three years as an assistant before taking the top job, Rowntree admits he didn’t expect just how much there is to keep on top of aside from rugby coaching. Being Munster head coach means doing a fair bit of fire-fighting.
“You only see it when you’re in it, when you’re at the end of the gun,” he says.
“I’d deign to suggest we’re quite well followed and there’s a few clicks around us as a province but you only experience that when you’re in it and two years down the line.
“I’m more battle-hardened to that. When I talk like this, I’m comfortable talking like this with rugby nerds, with all due respect. We all love the game and I’m comfortable with it but it is consuming.
“I don’t come in here with a plan, a script. I have learned to live in the moment. You get comfortable having been through a few scenarios, how you can answer questions, innuendos, suggestions.”
Rowntree is happy that today marks the start of the flow of game after game after game pretty much all the way through to Saturday 14 June when Munster will hope to be involved in the URC Grand Final.
Not that Rowntree will say he’s thinking that far ahead. He totally dismisses the idea of stating clear goals for the campaign insisting that the only ambition right now is to beat Connacht at Thomond Park this evening.
He has enjoyed the pre-season, which has been shorter in Munster ahead of this campaign than has been the case before. Rowntree preferred that and so did his players.
“The season is long enough, you have to give them a good break,” he says before stressing that none of them returned in poor condition. GPS data means there is no hiding in pre-season as there might have been back in Rowntree’s earlier playing days.
The short-term focus for Munster makes sense given that they haven’t exploded out of the blocks in either of Rowntree’s seasons in charge, albeit last season was better than the first.
“An early burst would do!” he says. “There’s expectations of us, what could we do? Manage your squad, bring through people, make sure you’ve got depth in key areas, get lads better every day and win the next game.
“I can’t think of a cleverer answer than that. I’d prefer it to a late surge. I’d prefer not to be doing what we did two years ago, nipping into Europe in the last round.
“We’ll drive it on, there’s a way of training we’ve discovered, a way of playing. You’ve just got to get on and do it, keep everyone fit and healthy and do it. Cope with injuries, cope with guys going away on Emerging Ireland tour, just keep driving it on.”
It’s not all that complicated and that appears to be how Rowntree likes things.
Munster fans are strapping themselves in for the latest adventure.
Munster:
15. Mike Haley
14. Thaakir Abrahams
13. Tom Farrell
12. Alex Nankivell
11. Shane Daly
10. Billy Burns
9. Craig Casey
1. Jeremy Loughman
2. Diarmuid Barron (captain)
3. John Ryan
4. Jean Kleyn
5. Fineen Wycherley
6. Ruadhán Quinn
7. John Hodnett
8. Gavin Coombes
Replacements:
16. Niall Scannell
17. Josh Wycherley
18. Oli Jager
19. Alex Kendellen
20. Jack O’Donoghue
21. Ethan Coughlan
22. Tony Butler
23. Seán O’Brien
Connacht:
15. Santiago Cordero
14. Mack Hansen
13. Piers O’Conor
12. Cathal Forde
11. Shayne Bolton
10. Josh Ioane
9. Ben Murphy
1. Denis Buckley
2. Dave Heffernan
3. Jack Aungier
4. Joe Joyce
5. Darragh Murray
6. Josh Murphy
7. Conor Oliver
8. Cian Prendergast (captain)
Replacements
16. Dylan Tierney-Martin
17. Peter Dooley
18. Sam Illo
19. Oisín Dowling
20. Shamus Hurley-Langton
21. Caolin Blade
22. David Hawkshaw
23. Sean Jansen
Referee: Chris Busby [IRFU].
