NO RETURN POLICY
For different reasons, O’Gara and O’Connell will feel the time isn’t quite right to rejoin their beloved Munster
AGLORIOUS past has intruded upon Munster’s highly promising present. What it all means for the future is sure to be influenced by the outcome of tomorrow’s forbidding trip to Coventry to play the mighty Saracens in a European Cup semi-final.
Munster are not expected to win against a big, bullish side that look renewed this season, and a match for anyone.
Were Munster to defy expectations and reach their first European final in 11 years, then the methods of Johann van Graan and his current coaching staff would receive the strongest possible validation.
A heavy defeat, though, would add to the buzz of recent days, when the possible returns of Ronan O’Gara and Paul O’Connell to the province were addressed by Van Graan in an interview previewing the Saracens match.
‘Nothing is ever impossible,’ Van Graan told Virgin Media Sport.
‘Paulie is doing some great work with Stade Francais and he is finishing up. Rog has been absolutely fantastic at Crusaders and he’s possibly the most sought-after coach in the world, if I’m not mistaken.
‘I’ve been in constant contact with them, but there are a lot of quality coaches all over the world and we’ll do what’s the best for Munster.
‘Look, they’re fantastic people and fantastic coaches. We’re all on different journeys in our coaching paths, so I wouldn’t say yes or no to that. We’ll see what the future holds.’
Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones are Van Graan’s assistant coaches, and both have been praised for the work they have done in the rebuilding project continued by Van Graan after the first stirrings of revival were inspired by Rassie Erasmus.
Flannery, the forwards’ coach and Jones, the highly regarded backs’ coach, are out of contract at the end of the season.
Last week, an extension to 2022 for Van Graan was announced but there has been no news yet on renewed contracts for his assistants.
This has contributed to the speculation about returns for O’Gara and O’Connell, but they are frequently connected with their old province anyway.
The Munster phenomenon has always been fuelled by emotion, and there is an irresistible attraction in the two great inspirations of the team’s glory days coming back.
However, the circumstances of O’Gara and O’Connell are very different, and while a return for one might seem attractive, the other may be reluctant to commit just yet.
That is O’Gara. Last June, it was announced he signed a new contract with the Crusaders, weeks before the team won the Super Rugby title in his first season.
They are storming through the New Zealand conference again this season and look good to retain their title.
O’Gara has made a good impression at the club. More importantly for him, he is immersed in the elite club structure of the most successful and impressive rugby culture in the world.
At the Crusaders he has access to All Blacks but also to the overall New Zealand system where, as in Ireland, the clubs service the national side.
After almost five seasons as a coach at Racing in France, O’Gara will, by the end of this season, have amassed extensive experience.
While acknowledging the importance of Munster in his life, he has always been cautious about returning to Ireland too soon.
Given what he has achieved since his playing career ended, it is difficult to see why he would be in a rush to come back to Munster as an assistant.
Were he to come back, he would be entitled to think he could do the job of head coach.
That is not going to happen soon, of course, given the good work being done by Van Graan.
That is why, for all the incumbent’s polite words about O’Gara, a homecoming for the latter does not convince as the best career move he could make.
And he has not put a step out of place in that regard as a coach; he has chosen challenging, highlevel jobs, seeking to improve with each step.
Going by that logic, his next job should be as a head coach.
There was a brief flurry of excitement at the end of the Six Nations when the French union tried to pick their way through the latest mess their team had made of the championship.
Ahead of the World Cup, it was reported that Bernard Laporte, the influential president of the French Federation (and a quality head coach himself in his time) wanted to surround the beleaguered Jacques Brunel with expertise, and O’Gara was rumoured to be one of the targets.
The decision, made public this week, by the French rugby union to appoint Fabien Galthié as successor to Brunel for next season scuttles that plan, with Galthié joining Brunel’s coaching team for the World Cup before assuming total control.
Whether O’Gara would have been tempted to join such a misfiring operation is immaterial now, but the speculation showed how highly regarded he is.
O’Connell is far more callow in coaching terms.
His one year with Stade Francais will end in June, and a season helping with the Ireland Under 20s preceded that.
However, one season of coaching at elite senior level is a slim body of work to take, even back to Munster, where he would be heralded as a hero.
Given the improvements Flannery has brought to the Munster set-piece, one presumes that if Van Graan was replacing him, it would be with a proven talent, an upgrade.
O’Connell does not guarantee that, certainly not yet.
Two old gods returning to their field of dreams excites Munster supporters.
But one has to question if O’Gara wants another assistant job — and also whether O’Connell has the expertise yet to improve a team both men dearly love.