Munster fans will get a first chance to get a look at fleet-footed South African signing Thaakir Abrahams tomorrow evening after he was named on the left wing for their final pre-season game ahead of the new season against Gloucester (7pm). The pacey outside back arrived from Lyon this summer and joins Mike Haley and Liam Coombes in the back-three, with former Ulster out-half Billy Burns the other new signing in the starting XV. Burns partners academy scrum-half Jack Oliver, with Shane Daly an intriguing choice at outside centre where he partners Seán O’Brien. Up front, Josh Wycherley and his brother Fineen are named in the tight five along with Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer and Gavin Coombes, with Ruadhán Quinn, Alex Kendellen and skipper Jack O’Donoghue in the back-row.
Gordon Wood is set to follow in his father Keith and grandfather Gordon’s footsteps by playing for Munster’s senior team in their pre-season friendly against Gloucester tomorrow. The young Garryowen centre will be handed an opportunity to impress off the bench against the English Premiership side as one of three club players named among the replacements along with UCC’s Conor Ryan and UL Bohs’ Luca Cleary. They’ll be hoping to catch the eye and follow fellow sub Bryan Fitzgerald into the senior squad, with Munster’s resources set to be tested in the opening weeks of the season which kicks off in two weeks’ time.
The province are close to finishing off their preparations for the new season, which gets underway with the URC opener against Connacht on September 21. Last Saturday saw Graham Rowntree’s side take to the pitch for the first time ahead of the new campaign in a 24-21 defeat to Bath. The second of two friendlies follows on Friday against Gloucester in Cork and Rowntree has lifted the lid on the starting team that will take part in the tie. Abrahams will don the number 11 jersey for the first time when he takes up a spot on the left wing. The speedy South African signed for the province over the summer from Lyon on a two-year deal following Simon Zebo’s retirement. The 24-year-old will be joined in the back three by Mike Haley as well as Liam Coombes.
In terms of other new faces, Ireland international Billy Burns also comes into the team following his move from Ulster. The 30-year-old comes in as the replacement for Joey Carbery after his departure to Bordeaux in France. Three club players are included among the replacements including centre Gordon Wood – son of Ireland and Munster legend Keith Wood – who is set to make his debut.
Munster’s pre-season preparations step up a notch on Saturday with a trip to Bath and another opportunity for Graham Rowntree to cast an eye on the development of his next-generation players. With the province’s Ireland senior and U20 internationals only just back on the training pitch following the summer tour to South Africa and the World Rugby U20 Championship respectively, this will be the first of two pre-season outings - Gloucester visit Cork’s Virgin Media Park next Friday – in which the head coach can run the rule over some of his newest additions to the squad, recent academy graduates and the current crop of would-be senior professionals.
Rowntree has named a 30-strong travelling squad featuring a mixture of all of the above and a few more besides but it is the next-gen players that excite academy and pathway manager Gearoid ‘Gar’ Prendergast. The former Young Munster and Irish Clubs head coach succeeded previous incumbent Ian Costello when he became Munster’s first Head of Rugby Operations last summer and he learned quickly that Rowntree is on the same page as the development coaches when it comes to creating the opportunities necessary for young talent to learn and thrive.
Such is the alignment between senior coaches right the way down to the start of the pathway overseen by Prendergast that the academy boss felt no need to advance the cause of his players. Rowntree has continued where he left off last season, by reaching into his academy if the time is right and the individual is ready, handing starts to academy duo Shay McCarthy on the wing and Ruadhan Quinn at blindside flanker, and offering bench places to three further members, hooker Max Clein, prop Ronan Foxe and scrum-half Jack Oliver. There is also involvement for two of the five recent graduates who joined the senior squad ahead of the new campaign, starting scrum-half Ethan Coughlan, who starts at scrum-half, and fly-half Tony Butler, who will provide back up for new signing and starting 10 Billy Burns at The Rec.
“You don’t have to push for the lads to be involved because Graham is immersed in the integrated model,” Prendergast told the Irish Examiner. “One of the biggest compliments I’d give him is that he’s been so welcoming and understanding of how this model works. He’s a huge interest in the pathway and the academy. So that will happen organically with Graham and he’ll utilise the Bath and the Gloucester games for that very point. And not just the academy guys, that group that are transitioning to the senior squad and guys returning from injury. You look at the likes of Pa Campbell last year, didn’t have much of a season because of injuries so guys like that will get their opportunity I’m sure, in the two games.”
Prendergast has the numbers to back up his assertions. The number of senior competitive appearances by academy players has risen exponentially under Rowntree, from 33 in van Graan’s final season to 45 in the new regime’s debut and title-winning campaign and then 80 in 2023-24, the head coach using 11 different players. The academy boss is more than just a seasoned club coach, which was a path younger brother Mike, Munster’s attack coach, was influential in him embarking on when injury cut short his playing days at the age of 29. He has a Master’s degree in Leadership and years of experience in teaching and youth outreach, a background which helps to recognise the success of Munster’s developmental programmes in more than just that number of senior appearances the academy squad makes in a season.
“It’s probably more holistic than that, if I’m honest, but look, we live in a professional environment so there’s no two ways about it, the more players we can get into green jerseys and indeed senior red jerseys the better. We can’t hide from that but the holistic piece is what we want to develop as well. A lot of environments and sporting organisations, I’ve heard it said their emphasis is on developing the human being, the person. There’s a reason for that. The more rounded the person, the more educated, the higher levels of values, the more buy-in in terms of culture and environment, the more you’re all moving in the right direction. My life, the coaches’ lives are a lot easier when you’ve got a player or a person that’s willing to buy into all that. So the holistic piece is really important and that’s where we come in as an academy. My job is to ensure that inter-disciplinary piece between those various disciplines are very much inter-connected, aligned and we all have the same north star. It sounds great and cheesy and fluffy but it’s the truth and without that integration and alignment it won’t work. If we’re working in silos it makes it very difficult. So yes, there’s the red jersey and the green jersey but the holistic piece is right up there as well.”
As you may expect, there is no-one at Munster who is not aligned with that outlook. The game is not televised but there will be a live stream on Access Munster – sign up here for €6 for the month or just €42 for a full year. Munster Rugby wish to thank you for your continued support.
