Rob Penney confirmed as new Munster head coach

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/10444.php

Rob Penney was today confirmed as Munster's new Head Coach.

The 48 year old has been Head Coach of Canterbury since 2006, and last season took them to their fourth straight ITM Cup national provincial ***le. He also has Super Rugby coaching experience with the Crusaders where he was assistant coach in 2005 when they won the Super 12 ***le and he has maintained his involvement with the Crusaders as Development Squad Coach.

A former Canterbury Academy Manager, Penney will coach the defending World Champion New Zealand Under 20 side during next month's IRB Junior World Championship in South Africa,and he is expected to arrive in Munster in mid July for the start of a two year contract subject to obtaining a valid work permit.

Anthony Foley will continue on as Forwards Coach while expected change in the rest of the management team will be finalised following consultation with the new Head Coach.

Commenting on the appointment Munster CEO Garrett Fitzgerald said, " We conducted a thorough search to find a replacement for Tony McGahan and were delighted with the calibre of the candidates. Rob Penney's record speaks for itself and we look forward to welcoming him to Munster."

Penney leaves Canterbury with reluctant best wishes according to Canterbury Rugby Football Union CEO Hamish Riach, "Rob has been a great servant for Canterbury rugby. We are very sorry to lose a talented coach, but this is a fantastic opportunity for him and we wish him all the best."

I thought about putting this in the Heineken Cup forum but Munster aren't in that competition any more.

 

[ttankk]

Hoping he can bring something different to the set up, hopefully some flair in attack with regards the backs. New era for Munster Rugby.

 

[munstermuffin]

Backs coach to be decided next week or 2 and Niall O Donovan was interviewed today for managers job

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Nothing against Mr. Penney, and I'm sure/worried he'll do a very good job, but could a club such as Munster really not attract a bigger name? At least somebody I'd heard of, anyway?

 

[profitius]

Backs coach to be decided next week or 2 and Niall O Donovan was interviewed today for managers job

I presume they're asking Penney to recommend someone? NOD would be a good option for the managers position.

 

[munstermuffin]

I presume they're asking Penney to recommend someone? NOD would be a good option for the managers position.

Better again I think his man at Canterbury is the target but I think he has a big say and will be allowed pick his staff. He was impressed with Axel and well between the 2 of them I think the forwards will really get a shake up.

@Dunc: If you do research Penney is a superb coach and has been extremely successful in New Zealand. His problem it seemed in New Zealand was he was close to Robbie Dean and well NZRU didn't like that and many feel Penney should have a Super 15 team by now. I done my research when I heard he was a candidate and I really think he has worked his way up and is the best candidate for the job.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Nothing against Mr. Penney, and I'm sure/worried he'll do a very good job, but could a club such as Munster really not attract a bigger name? At least somebody I'd heard of, anyway?

It's not really the Munster way. Declan Kidney took over as coach from underage rugby. Alan Gaffney was an assistant with Leinster. Tony McGahan was a member of Declan Kidney's backroom staff. Rob Penney seems to have a strong track record as a head coach, more so than any of Munster' previous bosses.

 

[munstermuffin]

It's not really the Munster way. Declan Kidney took over as coach from underage rugby. Alan Gaffney was an assistant with Leinster. Tony McGahan was a member of Declan Kidney's backroom staff. Rob Penney seems to have a strong track record as a head coach, more so than any of Munster' previous bosses.

Add in this reminds me of Joe Schmidt, he arrived from Clermont and had good reputation as backs coach but here he was really nobodies first choice, then in first few weeks some were calling for him to go as Leinster started season in probably the worst way ever and well now I hope they get rid of him because he actually seems to never fail.
But my point being the big name choice isn't always the correct call and Penney needs to be given time to set his structure in place and study what he needs and has.

 

[Logorrhea]

Joe Schmidt was a backs coach at Clermont before taking over at Leinster.

Munsters problems wont be with the coahc, it'll be with the playing pool. Its just not good enough, same as it was under McGahan.

 

[munstermuffin]

Joe Schmidt was a backs coach at Clermont before taking over at Leinster.

Munsters problems wont be with the coahc, it'll be with the playing pool. Its just not good enough, same as it was under McGahan.

All he needs really is 1 or 2 shrewd signings and well he can pick a project player,
Let's not forget Munster's backs have not had an assigned backs coach for years, Dutchy doubled up with Video work.
Schmidt was a backs coach at Clermont, Penney has been assistant at Crusaders.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

A bunch on clowns on LF.com and in the Irish media wanted Joe Schmidt fired by Leinster after a few poor performances while he was changing the way they played. After a 7-41 tonking at the hands of Wasps in August 2010, Schmidt had this to say in a Q&A with Leinster supporters:
We are going to see lots of those younger players over the season and we are going to the the privilege of watching them improve

Playing that day for Leinster were Dave Kearney, Eoin O'Malley, Fergus McFadden, Ian Madigan, Richardt Strauss, Devin Toner, Sean O'Brien and Dominic Ryan. All have improved massively under Schmidt's tutelege. Penney arguably has as good a pedigree as Schmidt and has a hell of a record of developing players for the Crusaders and New Zealand. The point I'm trying to make in a roundabout way is that I hope Penney is afforded time to put his stamp on the team but fear a few bad results while he's trying to implement his gameplan will lead to calls for Anthony Foley to take over.

 

[Larksea]

this is bad for NZ, he really was the most successful coach in NZ outside super rugby and should have been retained in NZ to take over the blues.

 

[munstermuffin]

Agree 100% snoop but think fans do realise time is needed and he is a fresh voice so time will be his and I'd be delighted of we had awful start but it was meaning youngsters developed in a similar way to Leinster as you mentioned

 

[Feicarsinn]

If Penney doesn't get off to a good start I can see Munster fans turning against him pretty quickly. The shadow of Axel is lurking behind him in a similar manner to Rob Andrew and Andy Robinson (not a great analogy, but meh, I'm quite sleepy.)

 

[munstermuffin]

If Penney doesn't get off to a good start I can see Munster fans turning against him pretty quickly. The shadow of Axel is lurking behind him in a similar manner to Rob Andrew and Andy Robinson (not a great analogy, but meh, I'm quite sleepy.)

100% disagree as not 1 fan here in Munster really wanted Axel getting the job as everyone agreed:
- He's not ready
- An outsider was vital
- And he has to prove himself still as a forwards coach.

Penney was everyone preference by a long shot and I think everyone here really does realize we are in a rebuilding project and that next season we should be making progress BUT not be exactly there and Penney will get full support and time. If we get a backs coach in too then there will be a real buzz. I think we have the raw talent here and just need the right coaching ticket to make potential a finished product.

 

[bobbilycious]

This is a great signing by Munster. Penney has coached the Canterbury team to 4 provincial ***les. Penney has had to rebuild our squad each season due to starting players either making the All Blacks, leaving the province or leaving the country. The last couple of seasons almost no one would have predicted that Canterbury would win due to the number of new, unknown faces in the team.
Not only has Penney rebuilt our squad each season but each season we have won using a different style of rugby. He will work with what the squads strengths are as opposed to making them play his style of rugby. He is probably better than most of our SupeRugby coaches. I'm very annoyed at the NZRU for ignoring him for so long.

 

[nickdnz]

This is a great signing by Munster. Penney has coached the Canterbury team to 4 provincial ***les. Penney has had to rebuild our squad each season due to starting players either making the All Blacks, leaving the province or leaving the country. The last couple of seasons almost no one would have predicted that Canterbury would win due to the number of new, unknown faces in the team.
Not only has Penney rebuilt our squad each season but each season we have won using a different style of rugby. He will work with what the squads strengths are as opposed to making them play his style of rugby. He is probably better than most of our SupeRugby coaches. I'm very annoyed at the NZRU for ignoring him for so long.

Agreed. I think he needed that Blues job to be honest. Looking at the coaches New Zealand have in Super Rugby;

Jamie Joseph: Done a fantastic job with the Highlanders
Todd Blackadder: Been developing well and made the finals last year, good coach, constantly improving.
Mark Hammett: Hated him last season, but rebuilding the team nicely so good signing.
Dave Rennie: Doing amazingly with Chiefs in what was Ian Foster's failure.
Pat Lam: Utter Shite.

He should have got that Blues job, and was probably more qualified for the Hurricanes job over Mark Hammett (although I rate Hammett now).

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

There was a good discussion on RTE before the Munster v Ulster game about the appointment of Rob Penney. According to Alan Quinlan who was having a conversation with David Humphreys, Ulster were talking to Penney about taking over in Belfast. Humphreys said Penney wasn't the right fit. The implication is that Penney wanted to call the shots at Ulster (basically do Humphreys' role too) whereas Ulster just wanted a head coach. Whether it was Ulster or Penney who decided not to take things further wasn't mentioned.

Also, Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara and Doug Howlett met with Penney before he got the job.This is very similar to how Leinster players Jonny Sexton, Leo Cullen and Brian O'Driscoll spoke to Joe Schmidt about the Leinster gig. Clearly Munster's senior players were impressed with what they heard. Given Penney wanted a big say in all things concerning Ulster, it's safe to assume he's been granted those responsibilities by Munster. This can be seen already in the fact that Penney is being allowed choose his entire backroom team with the exception of Anthony Foley.

 

[big ginger 8]

Guess it's pretty natural that Ulster and Munster have both copied Leinster in trying to find their own "Joe Schmidt" in Anscombe and Penney wish them look with them but hopefully they're not too successful.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

I don't think it's a case of Munster and Ulster "doing a Schmidt", it's more a case of bringing in the best possible coach regardless of nationality. Penney's track record of bringing youth through, winning trophies and reinventing his teams style year on year is fantastic. He's exactly what Munster need.

Perhaps it's worth noting that while three of Ireland's provinces are now being headed up by New Zealanders, Ireland is becoming an exporter of coaching talent too. Mark McCall and Conor O'Shea are going really well in the Premiership, Michael Bradley has Edinburgh showing signs of improvement, Jeremy Davidson is doing okay in Pro D2 in France and Bernard Jackman has just signed a 1 year deal to take over as full time defence and skills coach for newly promoted Top 14 side Grenoble. Jackman could be one to watch- he oversaw a Grenoble defence that conceded just 13 tries this season. When you add in the like of Brian McLaughlin, Eric Elwood, Eddie O'Sullivan, Anthony Foley, Ian Costello and Richie Murphy, the Irish coaching stocks look in good shape.