It hasn't been a wonderful season for Munster Rugby. A shocking run of form at Christmas time really derailed their season - eliminating Munster from Europe and putting a dent in their PRO12 hopes. As it stands, Munster are hanging onto the final Champions Cup place, and face a tricky run-in to try and keep it.
It's been a tougher second season for Anthony Foley for many reasons - Peter O'Mahony's injury being a significant factor. Foley is bound to have learned lessons from the year, and will be in a position to build on the positives next season with Munster's new director of rugby.
But Foley has started a worrying habit of sounding more and more like Matt O'Connor with each press conference - something no-one wants for Munster Rugby. O'Connor was a very vocal opponent of the IRFU restrictions surrounding what players he could bring into Leinster, and how often Irish internationals can play - never mind that the young players that he shunned are now flourishing after Leo Cullen showed trust in them.
Foley's latest grievances surround one of O'Connor's common complaints - IRFU restrictions on signings. Reflecting on the European Rugby landscape - Foley seemed to be hinting that Munster would be more competitive with less restrictions on recruitment:
The European rugby landscape has changed with money. You have to recruit, we've obviously got limited positions that we can recruit in and you need to be all over that.
If you're going to compete with teams that can buy whoever they want, that aren't restricted by contracts or foreign players that they can play on the pitch, then you need to be either very lucky or damn good at your job.
Credit must go to Foley though, because he doesn't air his grievances in the same manner as O'Connor. The Munster head coach had a good point to make about the challenges they face because of the dwindling quality of Munster clubs:
Then you look at where most of the current crop of elder players would have come from is in the AIL. The AIL has dwindled, particularly in the last few years and particularly in around some of the Munster clubs. You have that to challenge where do your next crop of up and coming players ply their trade and where do they get their experience from?
He's got a point, let's just hope he doesn't make a habit of complaining and gets on with building on the positives of the season.
