Munster at an all-too-familiar crossroads and it’s time to line up O’Gara’s return

Ruaidhri O'Connor

Munster's Gavin Coombes shows his disappointment after his side's defeat in the Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 match against Toulouse at Thomond Park on Saturday. Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Munster's Gavin Coombes shows his disappointment after his side's defeat in the Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 match against Toulouse at Thomond Park on Saturday. Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

O'Gara

Munster's Gavin Coombes shows his disappointment after his side's defeat in the Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 match against Toulouse at Thomond Park on Saturday. Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

April 04 2021 09:00 PM

Munster find themselves at a familiar crossroads and they’ve long since tired of dancing. Playing your part in a classic European tie is no use when the show goes on without you and another few players head for the exit without a medal to their name.

Fans can take solace from the fact their team fired plenty of shots, which was an improvement on their PRO14 final effort, but moral victories are no use to Johann van Graan who has one more shot at a trophy in the Rainbow Cup this season and one more year on his contract.

At the end of his fourth campaign, both he and the Munster hierarchy will have a big decision to make.

The coach must be wondering how long he can pour his heart and soul into a job and keep hitting his head against the same brick walls.

For chief executive Ian Flanagan and those running the organisation, there must be a huge temptation to call up Ronan O’Gara and find out his plans beyond the end of next season.

On Friday morning, the Munster legend dropped a bit of a bombshell in his Irish Examiner column when he wrote: “I’m on my own career path and I don’t have any role in solving Munster’s problems. Indeed, I may never have.”

That evening, O’Gara’s La Rochelle team gave a resounding endorsement of his coaching credentials with their all-singing, all-dancing display in victory over Gloucester and he followed that up with a post-match interview full of vision and clarity.

When he was at Racing 92, O’Gara said his dream was to return to run Munster with Paul O’Connell, but now that his old friend is in the Irish set-up the stars may align for him to skip a stint at Thomond Park and go straight into the Ireland set-up when Andy Farrell departs.

Flanagan must ensure that that does not happen. His prime motivation now must be to reorientate the province and to reconnect with its traditional values and hiring O’Gara should be top of his priority list.

Life is good at La Rochelle. He has superb players and, with Jono Gibbes being linked with the soon-to-be-vacant Clermont gig, a promotion may be in the offing. He has a quarter-final to prepare for this week. Yet, he is clearly frustrated by what he’s seeing at the club he helped build into a powerhouse.

“As an ex-player, you’d be worried about the club now, and whether they are losing their identity,” O’Gara wrote.

“What do Munster stand for now? It is at the stage where they need to draw a clear line in the sand and decide what they want to do.”

Munster have an incredible tradition, a huge fan base and excellent facilities. They are able to attract and afford World Cup-winning players at their peak, yet they are still stuck on the tier below the top teams.

In 2018, Munster outlined their vision for the next three seasons with their strategic plan.

“Our vision transcends Ireland, Europe, and the sport of rugby and purposely so,” it read. “Munster wants to be THE BEST CLUB IN THE WORLD.”

The block capitals were Munster’s choice. That plan is now at its end and the goals have not been achieved.

There is young talent in the squad, but van Graan seems reluctant to promote it beyond the PRO14.

Two of the players who did the most damage on Saturday, Romain Ntamack and Matthis Lebel, were born in 1999. They were playing behind a pack full of internationals, but one wonders how long they’d have to bide their time if they had been born in the south-west of Ireland instead of the south of France.

Gavin Coombes has been the shining light for Munster for the past two weeks. Even in the awful PRO14 final defeat, he carried the fight.

Unlike his older team-mates beaten down by years of semi-final defeats and losses to Leinster, the 23-year-old has a defiant streak that Munster can build on.

Craig Casey looks to be built from the same stuff, Thomas Ahern has all the tools but will now have to battle two Springboks for a starting berth.
Jack Crowley is seven months younger than Ntamack, Ben Healy is a month his junior. Neither were trusted to be involved last Saturday.

Perhaps they’ll get their head in the coming weeks.

Maybe the Rainbow Cup will give them that moment on the podium to send CJ Stander and Billy Holland into the sunset.

This week, however, Europe goes on without Munster and they once again stand at the crossroads wondering which direction won’t lead them back to the same spot again.