Donal Lenihan: Rowntree decision a surprise but Munster had passed point of no return

Contrast that with the post-match interaction between Munster coach Graham Rowntree when interviewed by the province's former Springbok great Jean De Villiers after their defeat to the Stormers earlier in the day. Rowntree was left fuming after a game where Munster’s set piece failings came back to haunt them.

On the back of that performance, nobody held out much hope of Munster being able to turn things around in their second URC outing on tour in South Africa, against a Sharks front five with four World Cup-winning Springboks in Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Vincent Koch and Eben Etzebeth in their starting ranks in Durban last weekend.

The fact that Munster’s ailing defense was ruthlessly exposed by the Sharks' electric scrum half Grant Williams, leading to an opening try from full back Aphelele Fassi after 45 seconds of play, highlighted wider issues at play within the group.

Trailing 17-0, without any meaningful set-piece interaction, a mere 14 minutes into the game only served to reinforce that view. Couple that with a disastrous first-ever league defeat to Zebre, by 42-33 in Parma in round two, and people in and around the squad were already beginning to walk on eggshells.

That said, I must admit to being taken by surprise when Munster made the announcement on Tuesday morning that the province had dispensed with Rowntree’s services just a few months into the season.

It appears that things had reached the point of no return and with the URC campaign heading into hibernation for a month, Munster’s professional board, influenced in all probability by the IRFU’s high performance unit, decided to take drastic action.

There have been rumblings of dissatisfaction emanating from the Munster set-up for some time in relation to the training regime which some were convinced was a contributory factor to an ever increasing casualty list, something Rowntree denied emphatically recently.

That has led to tension within the coaching box where two distinct factions appear to have developed. If that was the case, players pick up on it very quickly and tend to keep their heads down, a clear recipe for disaster.

To function at full tilt at the elite level of professional sport, all areas within the management set-up need not only to be fully aligned but trusted and respected to bring their professional expertise to bear. I’m not sure if that was the case in Munster.

It’s clear, for example, within Andy Farrell’s national set-up that the strength and conditioning department, working in tandem with the medical team, is strong enough to control the workload of all the individual players within the group.

The recent appointment of Aled Walters, the former Munster and South African head of strength and conditioning, whom Farrell plucked from Steve Borthwick’s England backroom, is but a further demonstration of the fact that Ireland’s head coach is always chasing the top personnel to augment his management team.

To get the best in class requires money and a lot of it. Leinster have that and, as a consequence are always looking to strengthen their entire set-up with top-quality personnel. Munster however don’t carry anything like the same financial clout.

There is a wider issue at play here which any new coach appointed by Munster in the morning won’t be able to resolve in relation to the development of young talent within the province. Munster possess nothing like the mini academy system in place in Leinster where up to 16 A level schools have been churning out talented young school leavers on a consistent basis over the last decade. Some of those schools operate on rugby budgets in excess of €500k.

That’s why the IRFU need to treat the provinces as different entities with different requirements. For example, the recent diktat, from new performance director David Humphreys, which prevents any province from bringing in an overseas prop for the foreseeable future has huge implications for Munster.

In some respects Munster are the architects of their own downfall with a lack of succession planning, especially in relation to their front row resources. After all, Rowntree has been involved as a front row specialist for the last five years yet the province's strength in depth is really poor. Right now there is a ridiculous over-reliance on two 36-year-old stalwarts in Stephen Archer and John Ryan that hasn’t been addressed.

No matter who Munster appoint, if they don’t have a competitive scrum, especially with the explosive power now carried by all four South African URC squads, the new man is going to find it very difficult to compete.

I firmly believe that the entire Munster operation is in need a root-and-branch review. With that in mind, I would immediately appoint the former provincial and national coach Declan Kidney to conduct the exercise. He has intimate knowledge of the unique challenges Munster face and what’s required to extract the very maximum out of what the provine has.

His time away with London Irish, where he did an excellent job as director of rugby until the club was forced into liquidation for reasons well outside his remit, will only serve to aid his cause even more given the financial constraints he was forced to operate under in his time with the exiles.

Munster may be lucky in that, in Felix Jones, there’s a very well respected and well proven coach available who also possesses that intimate working knowledge of the province. The only caveat here is that he has never operated as a head coach.

Knowing his work ethic and considering the vast experience he would have garnered while operating in tandem with Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber with the Springboks, I’d be more than happy to take my chances on that front.

Remember, Joe Schmidt was never a head coach before Leinster plucked him from Clermont Auvergne and he didn’t work out too badly. A potential obstacle revolves around the fact that Munster may be required to buy him out of the remaining months of his contract with the RFU. If so, I think it would be money well spent.

Understandably, Ronan O'Gara’s name has also been linked with the role. I suspect he has unfinished business with La Rochelle in terms of winning a first-ever Bouclier de Brennus, a French Top 14 title with the club. Either way, I think his next move may well revolve around the international game.

In announcing Rowntree’s sudden departure on Tuesday morning, the province confirmed that current Head of Rugby Operations, Ian Costello, will take over as Interim Head Coach with immediate effect with the recruitment process for a permanent Head Coach getting underway immediately. It may only be the first of many steps required to make Munster more consistent and competitive with the best in class but, for a multitude of reasons, it’s imperative they take their time and get the right man.