Munster to extend Anthony Foley’s contract within weeks

Having confirmed the hiring of former English and Lions defence coach Andy Farrell as a consultant, Garrett Fitzgerald, the Munster CEO, suggested that they will look to tie down Anthony Foley's one-year extension when the Six Nations begins in four weeks' time.

“We’ll review the situation once the Six Nations kicks off, that would be fair,” said Fitzgerald, who along with the Munster Professional Game Board, are keen to take up the option of extending Foley’s contract by another year, although the Munster head coach appeared to be considering his position in the wake of last Saturday’s defeat.

Accepting that Leinster’s decision to release Matt O’Connor last May left them with little time to find a replacement, Fitzgerald admitted: “There’s a very limited number of top class coaches available at any time around the world.”

Hence the need to tie Foley down sooner rather than later, with the next three weeks to sway him one way or the other.

Fitzgerald also confirmed that all the assistant coaches are out of contract at the end of the season. While the rumour is that backs' coach Brian Walsh and lineout coach Mick O'Driscoll are moving on, none of the coaches have had any discussions with Fitzgerald or Foley as of yet.

Team performance

“That’s purely by choice, given what’s gone on and trying to get the team performance,” said Fitzgerald. As to rumours that former scrum-half

Michael Bradley

has been lined up to succeed Walsh, Fitzgerald said: “Of course people like that will always be considered.”

Fitzgerald revealed the province's PGB first considered bringing Farrell aboard as a consultant "three or four weeks ago". Having discovered the IRFU were also endeavouring to hire him, they approached Farrell before Fitzgerald and John Kelly, the PGB chairman, approached Anthony Foley last Thursday.

“He’s working as support, an advisor. Anthony remains in as the head coach role, there’s no change in that. I’m sure the whole idea is that he’ll have opinions, he’ll express them and discuss them but there’s no change to the decision-making.”

Foley himself confirmed he was entirely acceptable to the idea.

“I saw it as a great opportunity to get somebody with vast experience in around the playing group and coaching group. You can’t shy away from it and see it as a weakness. You see it as a challenge and you see it as an opportunity to learn a bit further.”

Foley welcomed Farrell talking to the players as well.

“ My view is pretty simple. It was an opportunity that I couldn’t turn down and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I said no.”

“There’s no hiding from the fact that we’re in a bad run of results, and we need something that has an ability to lift. I think having someone in and around – even though it’s only a couple of days a week – will add a bit of impetus hopefully.”

To the many Munster supporters who believe that the province have fallen away from the European elite and won’t be returning there any time soon, Fitzgerald firstly maintained they enjoyed “fantastic support”, adding: “As regards teams, availability of players, budgets, everything has changed.

“It is way more competitive than it has been. It is harder to get up to that level. But to our supporters I would say you have got to be patient, you have to be realistic and you have got to see what is happening to other teams as well.

“Our ambition is nothing else but to win trophies and that hasn’t changed. If every year you don’t, it hurts people every week you lose. Me, personally, I feel it that way.”

Fitzgerald confirmed that Munster still owe €9 million on the €39 million they borrowed from the IRFU to redevelop Thomond Park, but that this was actually an achievement, and that the training centre in the University of Limerick which will host the senior squad on a full-time basis will be available to all the province’s teams.

He added that attractive offers have been put on the table to Conor Murray and Keith Earls, and one is about to be put to Simon Zebo this week. "From the conversations I have had with him (Zebo), I would say I would be very optimistic. But I would say there is probably other optimistic people around as well."

Fitzgerald, who has been in situ since 1999 and is the longest serving provincial CEO, said he considered his own position “every day”, and added that his position was reviewed at the end of every season.