As recently as last September, Stephen Larkham appeared unequivocal in stating his desire to remain with Munster beyond his initial three-year deal. But on Tuesday Munster have confirmed the former World Cup-winning Wallabies' outhalf will be returning to Australia at the end of the current season.
Larkham joined Munster before the start of the 2019-20 seaso, overseeing their attack, and had been offered an extension beyond this season, something he had given every indication of accepting.
However, he cited personal reasons and a coaching opportunity closer to home behind his reason for a change of heart. Larkham is considered a potential replacement for outgoing Brumbies head coach Dan McKellar, who will coach the Brumbies in Super Rugby Pacific next season before relinquishing his role to focus full-time on the Wallabies, where he is forwards coach under Dave Rennie.
A Munster statement said that after careful consideration Larkham “eventually declined the extended contract offer citing personal reasons in seeking a return to Australia with his family and the additional incentive of a coaching opportunity closer to home.”
In the statement, Larkham admitted: “I only recently spoke about my desire to remain with Munster and continue working with my fellow coaches and playing group.
“That hopefully gives some indication as to how difficult a decision this has been for me. The staff, players, fans, and facilities are world class here and I am grateful to have had this opportunity.
“My family made a number of sacrifices in joining me on this move to Ireland and my girls’ adjustment over here, particularly with covid, has been difficult. I have to put them first now, and with a coaching opportunity closer to home this is the right thing for my family at this time.
“For now, my focus is very much with Munster Rugby and with a long season ahead I will savour every moment of working within this great environment as we continue to build in the right direction.”
Asked in September if he would like to stay on as Munster’s senior coach, Larkham answered without hesitation: “Of course, we all do.”
“It’s a great environment here at the moment. We certainly feel like things are building in the right direction. We had a really good year last year and we want that to continue.” He clearly meant it as well.
Larkham arrived in Munster with serious pedigree, having won 102 caps in a garlanded career which saw him inducted into both the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
Save for a three-year stint in Japan at the end of his playing career, Larkham had spent the previous 18 years playing and coaching with both the Brumbies and the Wallabies. Whereupon, he upped sticks with his wife Jacqueline and daughters Jaimee and Tiahna, who were then 16 and 12, and moved to Munster.
Soon after his arrival he noted, ironically, that “Shannon is actually the furthest flight that you can get from Canberra. We couldn’t get any further away if we tried and to a wetter country.”
“But Munster are one of the most renowned teams in the world and the whole set-up, the journey that they’re on, in the end it was an easy decision to make. The hardest thing was making sure the family were going to be comfortable.”
“From a rugby perspective, it was always something I was going to do. Being so ‘southern hemisphere-centric’, I knew I needed to coach in Europe somewhere.”
While Larkham perhaps hasn’t overseen a revolution in playing style quite as Munster fans might have hoped, nor helped to dethrone an all-dominant Leinster, there have been some clear signs of an expansion along the way and word was that he had been given a more influential role this season. His calm, approachable and detailed demeanour has also helped to make him very popular within the organization.
At least he has another seven months to leave his imprint and continue his mentoring of Joey Carbery, Ben Healy and Jack Crowley, while he has also given ample time for Munster to find a replacement.
The former Munster scrum-half Mike Prendergast, who has made quite a name for himself over the last nine seasons in the Top 14 in stints with Grenoble, Oyonax, Stade France and Racing 92, where he now works as attack coach, would be an obvious contender.
So too the former Irish Under-20s coach Noel McNamara, who hails from Clare and coached at Glenstal Abbey before guiding the under-20s to a Grand Slam in 2019. He recently left Leinster after serving as their academy manager to become attack coach with the Sharks.
