Graham Rowntree

[Robespierre]

Just read this article of a former Tigers' stalwart and am sharing it with you. Life in SW Ireland seems to be suiting Wig!!

Graham Rowntree exclusive: 'I've got many bruises but England in 2015 is not one of them... you have to move on'
All four of England's big-name coaches from their doomed 2015 World Cup campaign have crossed the Irish sea for new challenges

By
Tom Cary
IN LIMERICK
5 February 2020 • 8:00am

Graham Rowntree tilts his inimitable, shaved head back and smiles at the serendipitous nature of life. “Double agents?” says the former Leicester Tigers prop in answer to a question. “Ha ha. No, there was no master plan involved. It’s all purely coincidental.”

We are talking, of course, about the fact that the four principal coaches from England’s doomed 2015 World Cup campaign – head coach Stuart Lancaster and assistants Andy Farrell, Mike Catt and Rowntree – are all now plying their trade in Ireland; Farrell and Catt with the national team, Lancaster with Leinster and lastly Rowntree, who is three months into his latest incarnation as forwards coach with Munster. “I did see someone on social media after Catty got the Ireland job saying: ‘Thank you England for being a feeder nation for Ireland!’” Rowntree adds. “It made me laugh. But, no, pure coincidence.”


Given the way it ended with England four years ago, going out in the group stages of a home World Cup and then the summary execution when new head coach Eddie Jones arrived, Rowntree could be forgiven for feeling a little bruised by the experience. But he insists he is not bitter. “I’ve got many bruises but, no, I’m not bruised by that,” he says. “You get over it. I don’t have nightmares. It’s done isn’t it? It was a painful time. A different set of circumstances. Fairly unprecedented I would say … the pressure we were under. A home World Cup. You can’t know what that’s like until you’ve experienced it for yourself. Crikey, that was pressure.” He pauses. “You have to move on, don’t you?”

Rowntree has. Rather successfully. Initially at Harlequins, where he spent two seasons, then as assistant to Milton Haig at Georgia, who he coached until the end of the World Cup in Japan last autumn. The itinerant nature of his career since leaving England has lent a rather cosmopolitan air to this most down-to-earth of men; owner of arguably the most famous cauliflower ears in rugby. He has come a long way to be sitting in the boardroom at Munster’s offices at the University of Limerick.


Born in Stockton-on-Tees, one of three rugby-playing boys, and growing up in Leicestershire, Rowntree cut his teeth in the great Tigers team of the time. He ended up playing nearly 400 times for the club after joining the youth set-up from Nuneaton, bridging the amateur and professional eras, from being taken out for a drink (or 15) by England forward Dean Richards (after which they tried to steal a mechanical digger in Leicester city centre) to winning 54 caps for England and three for the British and Irish Lions.

Rowntree is of the last generation of players who knew what it was like to have a “real” job, working as an insurance broker in Leicester for seven years, training every Monday night at a local running track with team-mate Martin Johnson.

After a few years of globe-trotting, Rowntree, who turns 50 next year, has found a home in Munster. “They’re my kind of people these guys,” he says.

“They’re down to earth, they work hard, they’re warm, they enjoy a bit of banter. I’m really enjoying it here. I like the people, I like the countryside. We live in Killaloe about 20 minutes up the road from Limerick, near a lake. It’s proper rural; lovely rolling hills, loads of pubs and restaurants. I want to bring the family over and really settle in.”

The family – wife Nicky and their three teenage children – arrive in the summer at the end of the academic year, although eldest son Jack, who is part of the Tigers academy, might go to university in England. “We’re not sure about that yet but the plan is definitely to move over as a family. If they’ll have us. I think to do the job properly you’ve got to move over. Lock stock. Commuting is not the answer.”

It was a baptism of fire with Munster. High-stakes Champions Cup clashes with Saracens and Racing 92 in December and January, which ultimately ended with them finishing third in the Pool of Death and exiting Europe.

He admits it was a “tough period” but he says he feels energised by the experience of working at a club like Munster.

“They’re proper rugby people here. Everybody knows who you are.” Does that mean he can’t go out for a quiet pint? “Ha. I’m no celeb. Never describe me as a celeb. But no, they’re good people. They’ll let you know what they think about how Munster are going. But they’re respectful, knowledgeable.”

With a weekend off in the Pro14, Rowntree will be at the Aviva Stadium when Ireland host Wales on Saturday, casting an eye over the Munster players principally but also checking out the opposition. He is in regular dialogue with Farrell – “we speak about once a week maybe; we’re good mates” – and is convinced he will be a success with Ireland and believes the nervy victory over Scotland last weekend was just what the doctor ordered.


“He was destined to be a head coach,” he says. “I’ve worked with him for a long time. First and foremost they had to win that game. I’ve absolutely no doubt he will be a success. He commands such respect.” He insists that Catt, who has been brought in as attack coach, will add a new dimension to Ireland as well. “You need someone in your group who thinks differently; who challenges the status quo,” he says. “And that’s Catty. He used to sit down with me and go ‘Come on then Wig, what can we do at this line-out?’ He’d have different ideas. You have to keep the opposition guessing. We have Steve [Larkham] doing it here at Munster now. So much knowledge. I sit there listening to him in meetings just taking notes myself. You can learn a lot from the people you work with. Catty will bring that.” He smiles.

“Good drinker, too.”

Any chance the four gamekeepers-turned-poachers might meet up for a drink before the Ireland-England game at Twickenham later this month and plot England’s downfall? Rowntree smiles. “We haven’t all been in the same room for four years,” he says. “Obviously, I coached the Lions with ‘Faz’ in 2017, but I’ve hardly seen Stuart. I bumped into him a year ago when his son was playing for Yorkshire Carnegie and my lad was just in the Tigers academy. But we’ve never all met up and discussed it [2015]. Why would we? Onwards and upwards.”

He does, though, reckon that England will be fine in this campaign. France were far more dangerous than everyone realised, picking a youthful team with little to lose and then hijacking Jones’s team at the Stade de France. “It’s always a challenge going to Paris, let alone when they’ve just appointed Shaun Edwards as defence coach. I think England will be fine.”

Would he ever go back? Rowntree looks surprised by the question. “No one’s ever asked me that,” he says. “Never say never. Why would you? But I don’t think it would ever happen. I’m a proud Munsterman now, more than anything.”

[sam16111986]

Thanks for sharing, an interesting read. I wonder why he wasn't approached for a position at Tigers or maybe he was but only wanted the big job.

[kk20gb30]

...being honest Rowntree would be one of the few ex Tigers who could justify a position back here based on achievement.Perhaps , one day if things line up right ...

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

A genuine legend, especially the ears!

Shame if Wig jr moves over the sea though.

Often used to see him & Johnno going to work back in those amateur days.