Friends reunited across Irish Sea
Jon Newcombe talks to Munster’s new recruit, former England coach Graham Rowntree
IF Graham Rowntree was keen to see if Irish craic was all it was cracked up to be when he first turned up at Munster, he didn’t have to wait long.
No sooner had Rowntree turned up to be interviewed for the forwards coach job than the old jokes about the ‘Hand of Back’ final came up.
The former England and Lions prop was a key member of the Leicester team that famously beat Munster in the 2002 Heineken Cup showpiece, a match that will forever be remember for Neil Back’s intervention.
Defending a 15-9 lead and faced with a five-metre scrum against them, Leicester were hanging on grimly in Cardiff as they chased a second consecutive title when Back literally decided to take matters into his own hands and slapped Peter Stringer’s put-in back to safety. It was unseen by the referee and Leicester won the turnover and ultimately the match.
“It was mentioned in the first few minutes when I came over for a proper interview with Johann (van Graan, Munster head coach) and the members of the board, all in jest of course,” Rowntree said, still amused by the incident, and touched by the reception he has received on taking on the job.
“I’m loving it here. There’s great lads and a great facility, everyone has been so warm, from the guys in the squad to the guys in the street,” added the 48-yearold, who arrived in Limerick fresh from his involvement with Georgia at the World Cup.
“I’ve known Johann for a long time having coached against him when he was at South Africa and I was with England. He called me up and it was an easy decision. This is a proper club, steeped in history, a club that wants to achieve and has a massive following, a bit like my old club Leicester.”
The banter didn’t end in the interview room.
Rowntree’s former boss with England and now senior coach with arch-rivals Leinster, Stuart Lancaster, even got in on the act.
“When I got the job, he sent me a text congratulating me, saying ‘you realise I can never speak to you again now!’”
Rowntree’s appointment and Mike Catt’s arrival as Ireland attack coach under new head coach Andy Farrell means all of England’s senior coaching set-up from the 2015 World Cup is now based across the Irish Sea.
“I can’t say that we planned it this way, it wasn’t on the masterplan four years ago. But that’s how it has happened and there is not a lot I’d change,” he said, frankly.
“Andy was in last week with John Fogarty, the new scrum/forwards coach of Ireland, it was great to meet him and see Faz again. Of course, Catty is on board now and I’m sure he’ll be around to see us soon.”
European weekends, such as Saturday’s sell-out against Racing 92, and the chance to experience a rocking Thomond Park at first hand, excite the two-time Heineken Cup winner who has signed a three-year deal.
“The European Cup means so much to them, you can feel that,” he said. “When European week comes along, everyone knows what goes with that – the sheer expectancy from within and outside the club.
“It is the Holy Grail for the club at the moment, the European Cup. There is a real desire to go on and win it again; we’ve got as good a chance as any other team at the moment.”
“This is a proper club steeped in history that wants to achieve, like my old club Leicester”