Dec 18,2024
Munster assistant coach Mossy Lawler is backing his colleague Mike Prendergast to become the province's next head coach.
Lawler is the latest Munster assistant to sign his name to a new contract, with the skills coach agreeing a new two-year deal, following on from Prendergast and Denis Leamy, who confirmed their extensions in recent weeks.
Prendergast is signed on as attack coach for the next two seasons, but confirmed last week that he has applied to become the next permanent head coach, which the Munster board and the IRFU are currently recruiting for following Graham Rowntree’s departure in October.
The former Munster wing believes his old team-mate is the man for the job.
"It is what he wants. He said that publicly last week when he said his name was in the hat, so I fully endorse it if it was something that came to fruition," Lawler said this afternoon.
"As a friend and as a working colleague, that is with him side by side every day, I don’t see why not."
Lawler, who spent seven years playing with Munster, cut his teeth in the coaching world at Connacht, initially with their academy before moving onto the senior coaching ticket in 2021.
The 44-year-old from Limerick, who returned to his home province in 2023, says he sees similarities between Prendergast and his former Connacht head coach Andy Friend.
"When you look at both of them together, that personality is the biggest thing that shines out amongst the two of them.
"The biggest thing I took from Andy is how he sets up his organisation. The relationships he builds and the care he gives amongst his staff and players was second to none and Mike has all those attributes as well.
"His personality shines through in relation to how he coaches on and off the field and the care and connection he has with his players is second to none."
Were Prendergast to be appointed, it would likely mean Lawler taking a more hands-on role in the attack, with Prendergast’s attention having to serve the wider organisation.
"It would appeal [to me] but that won’t be my decision and there is something that has not really been talked about. The powers that be will decide what happens there. The one thing I do know is that I love working with Mike every day. He is one of the main reasons I re-signed.
"He is a top class attack coach and from a principle side of things we see the game very similarly. It is an easy decision for me and how we work day-in and day-out in terms of what we see on the pitch.
"Simply put, I am there to support what Mike wants to achieve on the pitch. If Mike is talking about big-picture stuff, I am there to help with the micro detail, in terms of how we set ourselves up, how we deliver our pass release, and all the little small things that make all Mike’s big things happen.
"I love it here. It is home. As a young kid growing up, I had the privilege to play for the province and I don’t take for granted the opportunity I was given last year to come back here and coach.
"To be asked to re-sign is a massive honour and I am happy for my family too."
The province face a challenging couple of weeks with two Christmas Interpros, starting away to Ulster on Friday before they host Leinster on 27 December.
Friday’s Investec Champions Cup defeat to Castres also came at a significant cost, with Crag Casey having surgery on a knee injury, and wing Thaakir Abrahams suffering a dislocated shoulder.
Jean Kleyn wasn’t involved last week, but is also set to miss some time after having surgery on a thigh injury, while Conor Murray will miss the trip to Belfast with an elbow injury, and Peter O’Mahony, Dian Bleuler and Diarmuid Barron are all carrying knocks this week.
"Last week was a little bit of a setback but we are priding ourselves on our performance against the Lions and Stade Francais, two really big, physical sides, and what we produced on the pitch in relation to the number of line breaks we had and tries scored.
"When you go into a game like this, where you give away 17 penalties [against Castres], you are not going to win any game, never mind an away game in Europe, so we reviewed how we can control those. A lot were in our own hands and it is something we cannot afford to do at the weekend."
