For the third year in a row, Munster arrive into a high-profile and sold-out exhibition game against a southern hemisphere side with their season in chaos.
Two years ago, the province had won just two of their first seven games under former head coach Graham Rowntree when they welcomed a South African Select XV to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The 28-14 win by a depleted Munster side flipped their season around, and just over six months later they were celebrating a league title.
Last January, they were back in Cork in front of more than 40,000 fans as they welcomed the Crusaders to the Páirc. Once again they were stuck in a rut with just one win in their previous five games, and once again they were deep into an injury crisis, but dug out a victory against the Super Rugby champions, and would go on to win their next ten URC games before falling short against Glasgow in the semi-finals.
So here we are again. This afternoon, an All Blacks XV will come to Limerick for a game that will certainly boost the coffers at Thomond Park, with the product on the pitch overshadowed by the latest drama unfolding at Ireland's most chaotic province.
It’s four days since Munster’s squad were summoned to an online call on their day off to inform them that Rowntree (below) would no longer be their head coach, with the Englishman departing by "mutual agreement" just six games into the season. The days since have been filled with questions, almost none of which have been adequately answered.
Naturally, there has been little focus on this weekend’s game, with the identity of who Rowntree’s successor will be a far greater concern to the general public. Inside the four walls of the province’s high-performance centre in Limerick, that search has been put on hold until Monday, with interim head coach Ian Costello looking to get through the visit of the All Blacks first and foremost.
It’s not the first time that Costello has been thrown in at the deep end with Munster.
A former assistant coach at the province, the Kerryman spent five years working in England before returning to head up Munster’s academy in 2021, and when the majority of the province’s first team and staff were stranded in South Africa following a Covid-19 outbreak three years ago, it was he who took temporary charge for the opening Champions Cup game that season.
Working with a unique blend of senior Ireland internationals and a larger group of academy and National Talent Squad players, most of whom had never played for the province, Munster pulled off a remarkable 35-14 win against Wasps in Coventry.
"You do draw on experiences like that and you draw on other experiences you’ve had," he said, as he reflects on his previous week running the team.
"This is all still very unique. I’d say the most relevant thing is how supportive the club was, how aligned and integrated the club was. In particular, around the HPC there was a huge presence there on Wednesday, the right people were there giving the right messages, supporting everybody.
"What we were able to do was focus on getting the messages across, getting the team prepared.
"We have excellent coaches. My job was to coordinate it all, align what we were doing and allowing them to get on with their jobs, and that’s what they’ve done this week."
Whatever happens on the pitch, occasions like this are a reminder to any potential candidate for the job that Munster are still big business. Silverware has become rare in the province, and the kitty for signings is nowhere near what Leinster can summon, but the sight of 15 red jerseys standing opposite a haka, with more than 25,000 people in the stands, is proof that Brand Munster is still a major draw in the game.
While this is the tenth meeting of Munster and a New Zealand representative team, it’s only the third in the professional era.
In 2008, the All Blacks pulled off a dramatic 18-16 win, in a game which marked the grand opening of the new and improved Thomond Park, while eight years ago Munster were 27-14 winners against the Maori.
Gauging the standard of this second-string New Zealand side is obviously difficult. Led by Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan, they are a clear favourite to win in Limerick, with four fully-capped All Blacks in the starting XV; loosehead George Bower, scrum-half Finlay Christie, centre Quinn Tupaea and full-back Shaun Stevenson, the latter of whom scored two tries at the RDS when this All Blacks XV side hammered Ireland 'A’ two years ago.
While the New Zealand Test squad are in London taking on England this afternoon, there is no shortage of motivation for this second-string squad, who also face Georgia in Montpellier next weekend.
With the main All Blacks also group set to take on Ireland, France and Italy in the next three weeks, those playing at Thomond Park today will been keen to put their hands up in case of any injuries or withdrawals in Scott Robertson's group.
"It’s a privilege to be selected in this team and it’s one that’s been done in direct collaboration with the All Blacks coaching staff, so all of these players are viewed as being right there, knocking on the door of All Blacks selection," McMillan said, earlier this week.
"So there should be a lot of individual desire to put their best foot forward knowing that if they manage to achieve that, that puts them in the shop window if there are injuries to the next team. But if we can collectively get everyone to put in a good individual performance then we’ll have a good collective performance."
Given the week that’s in it, and with four weeks to go before their next competitive outing against the Lions, this evening does offer Munster’s players the opportunity to release the pressure valve a bit.
It’s just over 46 years to the day since Munster’s famous 12-0 win over New Zealand, and with that in mind, Munster’s interim coach is telling his players to make it a day to remember.
"I know it’s such a big week and we've had so much to deal with in the last couple of days. The last day and a half, the way everybody has embraced the fixture, we know we’re looking at playing the occasion rather than just playing the game. Make it special," Costello added.
"The history between the two teams is incredible. We’ve had messages coming from the likes of Doug Howlett, Lifeimi Mafi, videos in meetings, footage from the 78 game, Oli [Jager] and Nanks [Alex Nankivell] within the squad talked to us about what the Haka means, what it represents. We’re really trying to understand their DNA.
"That’s what we’ve done and the lads have really embraced it."
