Graham Rowntree Donal Lenihan Mike Prendergast Denis Leamy South Africa Ireland United Rugby Championship Munster Rugby Sport Rugby Graham Rowntree Donal Lenihan Mike Prendergast Denis Leamy South Africa Ireland

Donal Lenihan: Munster must be patient and get 'right man in'

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Munster should take their time when it comes to appointing a new head coach, according to Donal Lenihan, with Felix Jones and Ronan O'Gara among the targets.This morning the province announced that Graham Rowntree had departed with both sides coming to a "mutual agreement".The club had lost four of their opening six games in the United Rugby Championship, a run that included away defeats to Zebre, Leinster, Stormers and Sharks.Rowntree joined Munster in 2019 as forwards coach and was in the head coach role since 2022 and led them to the URC title in his first year in charge.Head of rugby operations Ian Costello (below) has taken over as interim head coach.Former Munster players Mike Prendergast and Denis Leamy are among the assistant coaches currently with the club, while former players Jones and O’Gara have more senior coaching experience.Jones, now based in Dublin, was a defence specialist with the double-World Cup winning South Africa team and is currently working through a notice period with England, while O’Gara is head coach of La Rochelle, with whom he has won two European Cups."The likes of Denis Leamy, Mike Pendergast have done a very good job over the past two seasons, but at times I feel Munster are fighting an uphill battle and it's a question now of getting the right man in," former Ireland and Munster lock Lenihan told RTÉ Sport."Graham had been there for three years as an assistant coach prior to taking over as head coach, so he knew the culture within the group, he knew the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation."I think Munster should take their time."It's going to be difficult to get the person you want mid-season but I think it's a hugely important appointment because Munster, despite the fact

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