Former Munster star surfaces as early favourite to succeed Graham Rowntree

Several names have been mentioned as Rowntree's replacement, but one has now emerged ahead of the pack.

A statement posted to the Munster Rugby website yesterday confirmed the departure of Rowntree after five years at the club.

The former England and Leicester Tigers prop spent three years as forwards coach at Thomond Park before being appointed head coach ahead of the 2022/23 season.

In his first season as manager, Rowntree led Munster to the URC title, the club’s first trophy in 12 years, before overseeing a top-of-the-table finish in last season’s URC campaign.

After a run of bad results over the past couple of months, the club and Rowntree have parted ways by mutual agreement.

A defeat away to Zebre in September, followed by back-to-back defeats to Leinster, Stormers and Sharks this month have left fans feeling frustrated.

Now, it appears as though a member of Rowntree's coaching staff and a man who is well-known within the province could succeed his former boss as head coach.

Mike Prendergast is the current attack coach at Munster and spent two separate spells as a scrum-half at Thomond Park.

The 47-year-old built an impressive coaching CV in France – working with Grenoble, Oyonnax, Stade Francais and Racing 92 during a decade-long stint in the Top14 – before he was lured back to his native province by Rowntree in 2022.

His colleague and ex-teammate Denis Leamy is also perceived to be a contender for the big job. Both assistant coaches are out of contract next summer.

While the romance of a Ronan O'Gara return is at the forefront of a lot of Munster fan's imaginations, along with the prospect of securing the services of Felix Jones - one of the hottest coaching prospects in world rugby at the moment - it seems the preference on the Munster board might be to promote from within.