Munster announced on Tuesday that they would be hiring a Director of Rugby in a significant change in their hierarchy for the professional team.
It represents a big move away from giving a head coach a monopoly on professional matters, and means that Foley can concentrate on tactics, team selection, and training whilst the new man will focus on recruitment of players, hiring and firing of coaching staff, and creating succession plans.
One man who is extremely nervous about the move is Munster legend Ronan O'Gara. While he readily admits that he has changed his mind on the idea of indignous coaches since he moved to Paris - "Now I better understand the benefit of a wellspring of different ideas".
In his Irish Examiner column, O'Gara is warning Munster of the dire consequences of getting the Director of Rugby move wrong:
In confirming they are hiring a Director of Rugby for the first time, Munster are making a statement on their future as much as an admission of failings in the past.
The appointment is absolutely critical to get right. There’s only one go at this. You mess with the foundations and the whole thing collapses in on itself.
O'Gara is warning against the possibility of losing part of Munster's culture by axing the likes of Foley and manager Niall O'Donovan; but acknowledges how in need of help Munster are. The former outhalf thinks that Munster need the best in the world for the new position:
People outside the bubble realise that Munster needs help.
Fortunately for the incoming DOR, it's a salvageable job. O'Gara thinks that the biggest problem is that values and standards have slipped, and that they are four or five players away from returning to where they need to be.
You have some lads in Munster now who wouldn’t be getting games in other provinces. Munster need four or five players if they are serious, because the benchmark is still winning in Europe.
Who those players who wouldn't be getting games for other provinces is another matter, but it's interesting to hear a former great speak so candidly about the issues that beset Munster at the moment.
[Irish Examiner]
See Also: Anthony Foley Is Staying At Munster, But What's Going On With Conor O'Shea's Job?
Picture credit: Diarmuid Greene / SPORTSFILE
