McGahan agrees two-year deal

TONY McGahan has expressed his delight at the announcement that his tenure as Munster rugby coach is set to be extended by a further two seasons.
Munster Rugby chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald has confirmed that McGahan will continue in his role as Director of Coaching until the end of the 2011-2012 season.
Thirty-seven-year-old McGahan took over from Declan Kidney at the start of last season having joined the Munster set-up in February 2005 as defence coach.
McGahan’s role was expanded to defence, backs and skills coach when Munster won Heineken Cup titles in 2006 and 2008.
The announcement comes in the week in which Australian-born McGahan welcomes back Ireland and Ireland A squad members into the Munster squad ahead of crunch Magners League and Heineken Cup ties. The Munster squad are holding a two-day training camp in Tipperary this week as they step up preparations for next Saturday’s clash with the Ospreys at Liberty Stadium and the back-to-back Heineken Cup fixtures against Perpignan.
Tony McGahan said: “I’m very pleased to be remaining on here at Munster for the next number of seasons. It’s been a privilege to be involved with a group of players, management and officials such as are involved in Munster.
“I’m really looking forward to the immediate future with crucial Magners League and Heineken Cup games in the offing, but I’m also delighted, both personally and professionally, to be remaining in Munster in the short-term.”
Commenting on the re-appointment Garrett Fitzgerald said they were delighted to have come to an agreement with Tony McGahan for the immediate future.
“Tony has shown, in his short space of time as a head coach, that he has all the attributes to keep Munster Rugby to the forefront of the international club game while at the same time ensuring players have the required skill sets for the international game.
“We have already enjoyed considerable success in the course of his short tenure and we believe that Munster Rugby can only continue to prosper under his direction.”
This week’s training camp in Tipperary will co-incide with the arrival of Springbok prop Wian du Preez in Munster. Du Preez has been signed on a three-month contract which runs until the end of the Heineken Cup pool matches in January.
The Springbok prop comes in to shore up the loose-head position. Encouragingly, the news on one of the players he’s covering for, Marcus Horan, is good.
The experienced Marcus Horan has resumed light training after a successful medical procedure.

Colm Kinsella