Duncan Casey: Anyone strongly allied to Rowntree's Munster was in a sticky spot

While a magic wand hasn’t been waved and there are still plenty of problems to solve, Munster looked a different team last weekend as they dismantled what was, admittedly, a poor Stade Francais team. 

They played with an intent, accuracy and level of execution that had been missing in the early part of their league campaign. It’s easy to look good against 13 men, of course, but the tone was set long before the Stade forwards began their own who could get the stupidest red card competition.

Jack Crowley played like the starting out-half of one of the best sides in international rugby. The pack won 15 out of 15 lineouts. Thaakir Abrahams looked like the kind of out-and-out finisher who can turn a game on its head in the blink of an eye. 

Short-term signing Dian Bleuler reminded me of James Cronin in his Munster prime. One swallow doesn’t make a summer and all that, but it wasn’t a bad way for Munster to open their European campaign after the turmoil of recent months.

So what has happened in the last few weeks? The traditional ‘bounce’ that comes from a mid-season change in the top job is often a factor in any sport but there is more going on here. A bit of a cull has taken place in Munster in the aftermath of Rowntree’s exit. 

Forwards coach Andi Kyriacou followed him out the door three weeks later and I understand this was a far more acrimonious parting of ways than the press release and accompanying quotes would suggest.

Munster state that head of athletic performance Ged McNamara is currently ‘on leave’ but my sources tell me this is also a permanent departure. 

It’s not unusual for a new head coach to switch up the backroom team when he takes over but for this to happen so quickly, while the dust is still settling and while Ian Costello as still in charge in a caretaker role, is unusual.

My take on it is that, due to the now well-documented internal strife within the coaching ticket, Munster felt anyone strongly allied to the former head coach was in a sticky spot. Rowntree promoted Kyriacou from an academy role in 2022 and was instrumental in bringing McNamara in, having worked for the Georgian national team with him around the 2019 World Cup.

Three senior members of staff heading the door in quick succession speaks to a ruthlessness in how Munster are approaching this situation that we haven’t seen before. Bringing Alex Codling and Chris Boyd in as forwards coach and performance consultant is an astute move that buys the province time to figure things out. 

The last thing you want is for the remaining coaches to be overloaded with responsibility that falls outside their usual remit, increasing the levels of stress and pressure.

In this scenario, it’s difficult to find people who are available, willing and who have the requisite skill set, and seeking out both Codling and Boyd in such a short space of time is hugely encouraging. All the above tells the playing group that while there has been a lot of upheaval, the club is taking decisive action and has a plan and vision for the way forward. 

Removing some of the uncertainty that is bound to exist takes a weight off the players’ shoulders and allows them to roll up their sleeves and concentrate on performing on the field.

Castres away will be a very different proposition to the lacklustre Stade Francais last Saturday. While they sit in seventh place in the Top 14 with six wins from 11 matches, they have scored an average of 28 points per game in the league and have run in 35 tries. Castres is your typical proud, rugby-mad town in the south of France. The sport is a religion in this commune of 41,000 people, largely because there isn’t a whole pile else to concern yourself with in the area.

It's a running joke in France that Castres is an arduous place to live for rugby players. There are many examples of foreigners arriving to the town expecting somewhere like Toulouse but finding something rather different. One Grenoble teammate who had played there previously told me his wife ‘nearly fell into a depression’ after they moved there from the more attractive environs of Provence in the southeast.

Castres are probably the last remaining old school Top 14 team. They play an abrasive, frustrating brand of rugby and pride themselves on living on the edge. 

The crowd at the Stade Pierre-Fabre feed off this and create a notoriously hostile environment for visiting teams. It may not be the prettiest or most pleasant offering in club rugby but it represents a lingering snapshot of the amateur era that to be honest, I think the sport could do with more of.

One of my standout memories from watching Munster as a child was Castres flanker Ismailia Lassissi biting Peter Clohessy in a Heineken Cup pool game in January 2002. Lassissi was handed a 12-month ban which was overturned on appeal, something that added another layer of spice when the two sides met again in the semi-final in April. Munster were 25-17 winners in Beziers that day and went on to lose to Leicester in the final a few weeks later.

Munster and Castres was one of the great European rivalries of the noughties. The sides met nine times in just over five years, producing many a tight battle and plenty of bad blood. Unfortunately, such rivalries have no opportunity to emerge with the current format of the Champions Cup, which sees teams play one another just once in the pool stage. The absence of a home and away element removes a huge chunk of the tournament’s appeal and is hugely regrettable.

I’ll admit I find it hard to get excited about the competition these days. The allure has been eroded in recent years by repeated, unnecessary tinkering with a fantastic format that put professional rugby on the map in Ireland. 

I know I’m not the only one, with attendances and viewing figures being down across the board after round one. Hopefully Munster can give us something to get excited about this weekend, at least.