‘Beat Connacht, go deep into Europe.’ Expectations rise for Graham Rowntree at Munster helm

Third season syndrome. If history has taught us anything it is that patience is usually rewarded in sport, although not many sports organisations possess this trait in abundance. But give head coaches time and they usually deliver, and very often in their third season.
When Connacht won their breakthrough Pro12 title in 2016 it was Pat Lam’s third season in charge. Similarly, when the Scarlets peaked with their Pro14 title the following season, it was the third season under Wayne Pivac’s watch. When Leinster won the double in 2018, so ending a relative drought of three trophyless seasons, it was Leo Cullen’s third season at the helm.
Even Ugo Mola, now in his tenth season as he increasingly looks like having a Guy Novès-type reign, needed a fourth season as head coach in 2018-19 to deliver a first French Championship for Toulouse in seven years.
After Graham Rowntree took over from Johann van Graan and brought in Mike Prendergast and Denis Leamy, understandably Munster had some teething problems. To then win the United Rugby Championship after finishing fifth in the 18-match regular season by dint of away wins over Glasgow, Leinster and the Stormers was arguably ahead of schedule.
By contrast, Munster ultimately came up short in the knockout stages when losing at home to Glasgow last June after finishing first in the regular season with 68 points, as compared to 55 the previous season.
Entering his third season, Rowntree has his feet under the table and seems more relaxed in his own skin. Ask him if he is enjoying it more, or is it more stressful, and with typical alacrity he answers: “Both. I enjoy it, and it’s more stressful.”
“It’s a valid answer, it’s true. There’s a different stress. There’s an expectancy now. Two years ago there was this ‘are you up to this?’ kind of look.”
Not that he was asking that question himself, despite stepping up to his first head coaching role after 14 seasons as an assistant.
“But a lot of people were, for the right reasons. Now there’s an expectancy. There’s a lot to manage and I’m very lucky I’ve got some good people around me. Great coaches, a great coaching team that’s going to keep us pointing the right way.
“We’re managing different things every day, [from] player availability to injuries, media – which you get comfortable with as you get older; that’s what I have realised about this job. People who do this job in their early 40s – I couldn’t have done this job four years ago. You’ve just got to have been through a few things, to keep everything in the right context. It’s all context, how you think about things.”
Munster also seem to attract more rumour and innuendo than most other teams – perhaps any other team.
“I didn’t expect it and you only see it when you’re in it, when you’re at the end of the gun. I’d deign to suggest we’re quite well followed,” he suggests ironically. “I’m comfortable with it but it is consuming.”
Helpfully, Rowntree maintains that the similarities with Leicester Tigers, where he spent his entire 18-year playing career, remain entirely valid. “I love it here for that reason. High expectations, high pressure but I work with some great people.”
Now entering his sixth season overall with Munster, Rowntree speaks from experience when noting of the URC: “The quality has got better. Anyone can beat anyone on their day. You throw in the South Africans – what you get in South Africa matters and that’s our target.
“I think the quality of the league has gone up and anything can happen; how teams play when they come here, the win that we’ve had on the road. I think the quality is going the right way.
“Teams are sussing each other out. You’ve got to be fit, hungry. The breakdown is war – it’s war, and I feel for the referees. You’ve got to be on top of everything, you’ve got to keep all these plates balancing in your game.”
So when he’s asked his ambitions for the season he says: “Beat Connacht,” adding: “There’s always something that goes on in these games with our neighbours from up the road, and they’ve upped their game as well. They’ve upped their physicality. Some of the work they’re doing around the ruck is very physical.”
But there’s also an acknowledgment that Munster have come up short, with successive Round of 16 exits in the Champions Cup.
“I get asked this: ‘Are you going to target Europe?’ You’re going to target every game. The club’s got a prestigious affinity with Europe, we want to go deep into Europe.”
But then he repeats: “Beat Connacht first, keep the squad healthy, train well, bring young men through, have young men coming in, to train with us as much as we can.”