Ian Costello and Munster surround vans before high-profile clash – The Irish Times

In Munster’s final week of drama and need, Ian Costello answered the call again.

Back in December 2021, he helped assemble a young team amid a Covid outbreak that saw the death of the senior coaching staff and much of the playing squad to engineer a famous Champions Cup victory over Wasps.

He steps into the breach this week following the sudden departure of Graham Rowntree to lead Munster against the All Blacks XV.

But while that remarkable win over Wasps took place behind closed doors, next Saturday’s epic match, filled with history, will take place at a packed Thomond Park, where extra seating has increased the capacity to 26,267.

Again unfortunate circumstances. But if Costello ever sharpens his beak again, this isn’t the worst game for it.

“I shouldn’t say anything about Wasps because I love Wasps, obviously been there for three years,” Costello said of his time there as defense coach.

“But there’s a little difference, isn’t there? Full Thomond Park, and that’s kind of a pressure and a privilege, isn’t it? Coaching Munster comes with a lot of pressure, but it is also an incredible privilege, whether it’s for a single game, a month or a season.

“And I try to practice what I preach. I stood in front of the guys and said: “We want freedom. We want to take advantage of this event. We want to enjoy it.” But I had to talk to myself a few more times to say, “Come on, you should try it too and enjoy it.”

“Because you can get lost in everything else instead of being present, so I know I’m going to really try to enjoy this event because it’s going to be special.”

Under Rowntree, Munster won their first trophy in a dozen years two seasons ago and topped the URC table last season.

“But I think it was his presence, didn’t it?” – Costello said. “He was the figurehead of the organization, he attended a large number of events, distributed himself on fan evenings, speaking at various events. He was a big personality and I couldn’t say enough positive things about him personally or professionally.”

Rowntree’s popularity with fans was partly due to the way he essentially “got” Munster. As Munster’s Head of Operations, Costello will be involved in the process of identifying the next full-time head coach with the Munster PGC and IRFU (Professional Games Committee) and Union Performance Manager David Humphreys.

“It is very important that we know who we are and what we do. We have an identity, we have a culture, and whoever comes adds to it, not changes it.

“I think as we go through the recruiting process we will be looking for someone who understands us. They may know how to make us better, they may know how to develop certain things, but someone has to understand us and what motivates us. That was something special about Graham.

“Then the balance is, do you need someone who also thinks a little differently? Like any workforce, any team, you need to have a certain number of local people and a certain number of diverse people, so the balance of your coaching group is also very important.”

Costello added: “There’s a lot of interest, so we’re taking our time and getting it right.”

However long Costello remained as interim head coach, be it one, three or seven months, he opted out of succession to continue his role as head of Munster’s operations.

He was not prepared to comment on Rowntree’s departure other than to say the decision was mutually agreed between Munster, Rowntree and the IRFU, and after the team returned from South Africa on Monday, players received the news remotely on Tuesday.

Understanding the concerns of many Munster fans, Costello said the players’ gratitude to their fans – as evidenced by Saturday’s sell-out crowd – was directed within the club.

“It would be an approach, name it, talk about it and don’t be afraid to talk about it. We left a lot of room for that, and one of the main things the guys really wanted to focus on was a performance that could really identify with the fans, show that they were still truly united, and play with a real sense of freedom. and passion, and we built this event around that.

“Hopefully if we get it right, that’s what the fans will see and they’ll see from the boys’ performance that they really, really appreciate what they do week in, week out. And that’s what we tried to focus on because we needed to turn things around very, very quickly, obviously in the two days of preparation for this game.”

Munster made nine changes to their starting line-up following last Saturday’s 41-24 defeat to the Sharks in Durban for Saturday’s game, thankfully without the other five Irish members of the squad and amid their latest injury crisis. one of them sees Peter O’Mahony’s timely return for his first game, having suffered a hamstring injury during his season return against the Ospreys four weeks ago.

Diarmuid Barron leads the team, where winger Diarmuid Kilgallen also makes his debut due to injury. Shay McCarthy will start at right-back as one of six Academy players in the 23-man squad, with Evan O’Connell in line for his first Munster match.

The All Blacks XV has five Test players in the starting line-up and two more on the bench.

Munster: Mike Haley: Shay McCarthy, Tom Farrell, Rory Scannell, Diarmuid Kilgallen; Billy Burns, Ethan Coughlan; John Ryan, Diarmuid Barron (centre), Stephen Archer; Finn Wycherley, Tom Ahern; Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombs. Substitutions: Niall Scannell, Kieran Ryan, Ronan Fox, Evan O’Connell, Ruadhaan Quinn, Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler, Ben O’Connor.

XV All Blacks: Shaun Stevenson* (Chiefs/North Harbour); Chai Fihaki (Crusaders, Canterbury), AJ Lam (Blues, Auckland), Quinn Tupaea* (Chiefs, Waikato), Kini Naholo (Hurricanes, Taranaki); Harry Plummer* (Blues/Auckland), Finlay Christie* (Blues/Tasman); George Bower* (Crusaders/Otago), Brodie McAllister (Crusaders/Canterbury), George Dyer (Chiefs/Waikato), Isaiah Walker-Leaver (Hurricanes/Hawke’s Bay), Fabian Holland (Highlanders/Otago), Oliver Hague (Highlanders/Otago) Otago), Du’Plessis Kirifi (Hurricanes/Wellington, captain), Devan Flanders (Hurricanes/Hawke’s Bay). Substitutions: Bradley Slater (Chiefs/Taranaki), Xavier Numia (Hurricanes/Wellington), Marcel Renata (Blues/Auckland), Naitoa Ah Quoi (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty), Corey Kellow (Crusaders/Canterbury), Noah Hotham* (Crusaders/Tasman ) ), Josh Jacombe (Chiefs/Taranaki), Reuben Love* (Hurricanes/Wellington).