'I can't see us not coming here every year' - Graham Rowntree hoping for more matches at Páirc Uí Chaoimh

It gave Munster a second consecutive win over touring sides at the home of Cork GAA following the November 2022 victory over South Africa A and two sold-out occasions in the province’s biggest city during international windows led to questions for the head coach as to whether he would like to see a competitive fixture at Pairc Ui Chaoimh in future.

“That was competitive, that game,” Rowntree said.

“Maybe. I can't see us not coming here every year. I think we will be coming here. It just feels different, doesn't it? The environment, the town. I think we'll stay at Fota Island next time. I'm really taken by that place.

“It's where the Crusaders are staying. We paid for them to stay there. We're in a Travel Lodge in the middle of town.” 

An inexperienced and injury-hit Munster side without its Irish Six Nations contingent and led for the first time by Alex Kendellen had raced into a 14-0 lead having made all the early running, both tries from man of the match Gavin Coombes converted by Joey Carbery.

Yet they could have built a bigger lead but for some excellent Crusaders defence and some crucial errors from Munster at the tryline. Seven-in-a-row champions Crusaders, missing their World Cup All Blacks, played their first pre-season game under new head coach Rob Penney and lost stand-in captain Quentin Strange to a yellow card on 32 minutes. Yet they scored a trademark try off transition ball through scrum-half Mitch Drummond, Taha Kemara’s conversion the last score of the opening period as Munster took a 14-7 lead into the break.

A scoreless third quarter gave way to an exciting finish when one-cap All Blacks centre Dallas McLeod produced an excellent finish, his try converted by Rivez Reihana on 66 minutes to level the scores.

Replacement hooker Scott Buckley pushed Munster back in front after Kendellen’s ambition to go for the corner was rewarded with a try under the posts, Carbery’s conversion making it 21-14 with 10 minutes to play.

Crusaders, though, rallied again, and when replacement lock Jamie Hannah scored with the clock at full-time, Reihana had a chance to tie the game with the last-kick conversion, only for home celebrations to begin as the ball drifted across the posts in front of the City End terraces.

“I was delighted,” Rowntree said. “It's a hard-fought win. We should have been further ahead on the scoreboard, particularly at half-time. [Their try] changed the complexion of the second half. I was really pleased with our physicality. We spoke about physicality before the game. Our ruck was good, it was quick, it was going to have to be against this team.” Rowntree and his assistant coaches had met former Munster head coach Penney and his backroom staff on the eve of the match at their Fota Island base and was impressed at the exchange of information between the two camps.

“They were talking to us about how they were training and how they were taking this game very seriously.

“We saw that today. That was a proper game. We weren't perfect, we've got to be more clinical on their try-line for example. But overall, that was a hard-fought win. Should have been further ahead on the scoreboard but very pleased for the lads. Some young men, some lads coming back from injury, put in big performances tonight.” Rowntree added: “Unbeaten at Páirc Uí Chaoimh! Unbeaten. No, it was special. You can feel it. Probably could have done with getting them on their feet a bit more, the crowd, and we tried to. The game became a bit stagnant in the third quarter and that shows you what a proper game it was. But no, we'll take that. I thought we'd come out of that with a draw at the end, there, but we stuck in there.” 

The Munster boss did not dismiss the idea of a return fixture, down in Christchurch, sometime in the future, though travel arrangements will need to be fine-tuned.

“Yeah, we'll take a Stena ferry,” he said.

“We're open. We certainly want to keep an open dialogue with them, so to speak. Keep a connection with them. They're just very impressive as an organisation in every way they do things.

“I mean, they are the gold standard for culture, their environment. We just compared notes about training and I was relieved to learn that we're not far off in what we're doing. I think we saw that tonight.

“But they were very open. Rob [Penney] is great. He used to be with the club. It was good meeting him. He's got some outstanding staff. There's a legacy there from Tony Blackadder, from Wayne Smith, from Scott Robertson, in terms of how they do things.

“We exchanged a lot of ideas. I had all my coaches there. I was really pleased with how open the conversation was.”