MUNSTER chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald said the fact three of the provinces will next season have foreign coaches in charge was an indicator of the way professional sport has gone rather than a reflection on the quality of Irish candidates.
Fitzgerald said New Zealander Rob Penney, who was this week named ahead of former Munster captain and current forwards coach Anthony Foley as the successor to Tony McGahan, was the best man for the job at this point.
“Professional rugby today is a business and you normally try to get the best people to run your business.
“I think part of developing as a head coach at international level nowadays, people need to work overseas and get experience. We have the reverse example of that now with Mickey Bradley and Mark McCall, who have gone elsewhere and had great experience.
“I’m sure the people in the Southern Hemisphere look the same way, and I don’t think it’s a reflection on Irish coaches. The difficulty Irish coaches have is that there’s only one employer in Ireland as a professional coach. And I suppose the risk level is a lot higher if there’s only one employer.
“We have a lot of excellent coaches in Ireland that would succeed at professional level if they could get sufficient experience but the way the marketplace and industry is I think they’ve got to go abroad to get experience. They’ve got to manage and survive on their own as well. But also some would come through the system naturally as well but I don’t think it’s any bad reflection on where things are in Ireland.”
Fitzgerald said Penney was anxious that Foley would remain as forwards coach.
“On the second interview he (Penney) openly stated that in the event of him being successful, he would definitely want Anthony Foley to stay as his forwards coach,” said Fitzgerald, who said Foley still has a lot to offer Munster.
Their will be more departures from the Munster set-up as Fitzgerald yesterday confirmed team manager Shaun Payne and backs coach Jason Holland were moving on at the end of the season.
Fitzgerald said that he would be working with Penney in the coming weeks to find replacements and he hoped to have these appointments in place by the time the new coach arrives in July.
