It's almost a month since news broke that Anthony Foley was going to have his contract as Munster head-coach extended by a further year, but that a director of rugby would be brought in to work alongside the former Ireland number eight, and what was a report at the time has today been confirmed.
The following statement was released by Munster Rugby this afternoon:
Munster Rugby and the IRFU can confirm that Head Coach Anthony Foley has accepted a one-year contract extension and that the province is looking to appoint a Director of Rugby for the 2016/17 season.
Foley, who commenced a two-year contract in the summer of 2014 with the option of a third year, will continue as Munster Rugby Head Coach for the 2016/17 season.
The province is also actively looking to appoint a Director of Rugby for next season, with the new role assuming responsibility for the professional rugby programme and elite player development pathway in the province.
Commenting on the latest update, Munster Rugby CEO Garrett Fitzgerald said, "As confirmed previously we offered Anthony the option to extend his contract as per the initial agreement in 2014 and we are pleased to see him avail of this renewal and commit to the province for a further year.
"The decision to seek a Director of Rugby was made at Munster Professional Game Board level in consultation with the IRFU, and is in line with our strategic plan for the organisation."
So Axel will get another year in charge, but who will be the DoR that works alongside him?
The first name that many Munster fans would, perhaps hopefully, suggest is that of Conor O'Shea, who will leave his role with Harlequins at the end of this season when his contract expires, but that won't happen because he's taking over as head coach of Italy, right?
Well... Maybe not:
Italian federation president Alfredo Gavazzi has denied that Conor O'Shea is to be new Azzurri coach. "You're all going to get a surprise."
— Mark Palmer (@MarkPalmerST) March 15, 2016
It looked like it was the worst kept secret in rugby, but that idea has been challenged this morning.
Of course, that is not to say that the Italian federation president is just telling a fib, which he very well could be, and we are blatantly putting 2 + 2 together... But if the stars were to align for O'Shea to move to Thomond Park then that would surely get a buzz going among the Munster fans who have become disillusioned with their team in recent months.
When it was confirmed that O'Shea would be leaving Quins, quite a lot of the talk was about the Munster job, but that died down once the rumours of him taking over as the head coach of Italy started to grow. That means that if the Italian federation president is not having us on, then surely the speculation will pop up again? Maybe as head coach in 2017? Or as director of rugby with Foley?
For now, all that is confirmed is that Axel has another year, and we will bring you more on the director of rugby position when it becomes clear.
