Our Munster columnist Trevor Murphy runs the rule over the many new faces at the province.
So here we are again at the beginning of another season of this beautiful game of ours. The beginning of another significant unknown for Munster Rugby. Not for the first time the Munster faithful are not entirely sure what to expect from their rugby super heroes. Last year Munster fans had their hopes and expectations raised with an impressive series of results in the Heineken Cup group stages. Unfortunately Munster didn’t have the consistency required to maintain the levels needed to succeed in the latter stages of the competition.
The new coaching team is lead by Rob Penney who is acutely aware of the enormity of the task ahead of them. Rob Penney mentioned it could take up to 5 years to reach the levels of success previously achieved in our most successful years. Happily, Rob Penney is driven by success and collecting silverware. I believe with him as head coach directing matters we have the right blend of people to bring the team on to the next stage of its development. Key to this will be the use of the younger members of the squad and the development of players. Our younger players need exposure to higher levels of rugby to achieve their potential. Thankfully Rob Penney has throughout his career shown his ability to win trophies and develop players repeatedly. Rob Penney has the experience and expertise necessary to bring Munster to a new level. He has had success with Canterbury while head coach and assistant coach. He has experienced success with the highly successful Crusaders side. And recently took his NZ U20 side to the runners up position in the 2012 IRB Junior World Championship. Key to this recent performance is the fact that he had no players returning from the previous season to add experience. Rob Penney is the right man for the job for the next couple of years and if he can bring his past experience to bear he will have a positive impact on Munster Rugby and Irish rugby as a whole.
2012 sees the return of Niall O’Donovan to the Munster setup as team manager. Niall was previously assistant coach with Munster up until the end of the 2001/2002 season before joining the coaching team for the National side. During his time with the Ireland they won Triple Crowns in 2004,2006 and 2007. As he was around in the early years of the Munster journey and through two Heineken Cup losses I’m sure Niall feels he has some unfinished business in this regard. This will only add to the hunger of the Munster Setup in 2012/2013. Niall also has recent form with Munster leading them a British & Irish Cup victory over Cross Keys.
The last new member of the coaching setup is Simon Mannix. Simon is a former All Black, number 908, who would certainly have earned more caps had it not been for a certain Grant Fox in possession of the out half jumper before him. Simon excelled at all levels of rugby in his home land making the national secondary schools side in 1989 and in 1990 being drafted into the Wellington representative side the following year. His All Black debut was at 19 years of age on a tour to France in the same year. After a couple of years on the fringe of the national side he took up a professional contract in England playing with the Sale Sharks and Gloucester Rugby before joining Racing Metro. In recent years Simon was part of the coaching team at Racing from 2006 until his dismissal in 2011 helping Racing to gain promotion to the Top 14 in 2009. His treatment at the hands of his head coach at Racing, Pierre Berbizier, has caused no small measure of strife at his previous club with the players taking issue with the head coach for his treatment of Mannix. If Simon can develop the same level of trust with the Munster players I see a bright future in the not too far distance.
On the playing side, we have a couple of new signings for this season. Sean Dougall has joined from the Rotherham Titans. He has previously played for Malone RFC and was on the Ulster side beaten in the 2010 British & Irish Cup semi final defeat by Munster. Sean also has previously played for Ireland U18 and U19. His two seasons with Rotherham were a success and seem to have steered his injury interrupted progress back onto the right path. Sean captained Rotherham whenever Sam Dickinson was unavailable. The back row is a highly competitive environment and we hope he stays injury free and fights for his place.
The biggest signing. and hopefully the most influential, in my opinion has to be James Downey. He has previously played for Leinster, Connacht, Munster, Calvisano and Northampton. While appearances were limited until his arrival at Northampton, he played 148 times for the Saints proving to be a destructive runner in mid field. As far as I am concerned Downey is an ideal fit for this Munster backline as we have been craving a big midfield runner who can get us over the gainline. I hope the experience he gained in Northampton will help him to be a major asset to Munster Rugby and help him to guide those around him. With Downey’s impact in the centre it surely has to create space out wide. I have long held the belief that you have to earn the right to play in the wider channels. In recent times I feel we have lacked the ability or direction to get there and make teams think twice in defence.
Casey Laulala joins Munster from Cardiff where he has played since the 2009/2010 season. Casey is a former All Black, number 1048, who has also played for Canterbury and the successful Crusaders franchise. A proven try scorer Casey amassed 100 point in his 61 outings for the Crusaders franchise. His most important try while at the Crusaders was the winning score in the 2006 Super 14 final. He added a further 75 points while playing for the Cardiff Blues picking up a European Challenge Cup winners medal along the way. It’s a pity there isn’t a stat to hand for assists or tries created because Casey has an impressive offload game and always seems to get his hands free in the tackle. This is not really a surprise because at pace it’s difficult to bring his 101kg to the ground.
More from Trevor next week as he looks at those moving up from the development squad.
I’m Trevor, 39. A passionate Munster and Irish Rugby Fan. A champion of the underdog. I have strong opinions on this beautiful game of ours. Always analysing tactics and phases of play. I believe in the old saying “It’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the about size of the fight in the dog”. Stand up and fight!
