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Munster May Look to Appoint Interim Head Coach After Erasmus’ Departure

Munster May Look to Appoint Interim Head Coach After Erasmus’ Departure – Erasmus will leave Munster to become the Springboks’ Director of Rugby in December, the same role he currently has at Munster.

Munster May Look to Appoint Interim Head Coach After Erasmus’ Departure

Munster are preparing to appoint an interim head coach after current Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus returns to South Africa in December.

The team was left shocked when Erasmus announced that he was returning to his native land and are searching for a short term replacement before making a full-time appointment at the end of the 2017/18 season.


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A shortlist of potential candidates for the interim head coach position could include All Blacks legends, Wayne Smith and Graham Henry.

Smith, who is believed to be taking a break from the sport at the end of this season’s Rugby Championship, would be an ideal fit for both Munster and the IRFU. The former Chiefs head coach would be available to take over midway through the 2017/18 season, before moving on.

Another former All Black coach that the IRFU may employ is Graham Henry. The former Wales coach took a consultancy role at Leinster last season and might be persuaded to take a similar, if not more hands on role, with Munster in December.

The IRFU have been tasked with appointing Munster’s next full-time coach, but it seems they might wait until the end of the coming season to see who is available and who is not.

One potential candidate that is gathering pace in the betting stakes is Ireland’s defence coach Andy Farrell. The former rugby league star is already an IRFU employee and would be seen by many Munster fans as an ideal fit for a head coaching role with the province.

As it stands, the team would be without a Director of Rugby, a defensive coach and a head coach in a couple of months time.

Whether the potential ‘interim’ coach, whoever it may be, could be kept on to fill one of these roles is unknown, but one thing is for sure, with each passing week, the patience of the supporters is being tested.

With Munster’s Ireland and Lions stars not due back on the pitch for another month, at the very least, fans will be looking for some news off the field to help build confidence following last season which showed so much unfulfilled promise.

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