4 days ago
Munster leaning into emotions after difficult week at the province
Midway through Tuesday's media call in Durban, interim head coach Ian Costello asked if he could interrupt the questions from those back in Ireland to say something on behalf of Munster Rugby.
In the last week, the province have had to share condolences with two families close to the organisation, following the deaths of Sheelagh Foley and Michelle Payne.
Sheelagh, wife of former Munster player and current Munster branch president Brendan, and mother of their late captain Anthony, died peacefully last Friday.
That news came a just a few days after the province remembered Michelle Payne, a former Munster Rugby employee and wife of their former full-back and team manager Shaun. Michelle died at home in South Africa last week following a two-year battle with breast cancer.
"They were two very important people in the Munster community and a massive loss to us this week, and that's very close to our hearts," Costello said of both Sheelagh and Michelle.
"Brendan and Sheelagh were here [in South Africa] this time last year, and Brendan picked up the phone and rang me Sunday morning to almost apologise for not coming and wished us the best.
"Obviously Michelle and Shaun were huge in the club as well. That's really important to the group this week especially as we're in South Africa as well, very close to our heart."
Munster Rugby would like to express its deepest condolences to the Foley & Collins families after the passing of Sheelagh Foley, the wife of Munster Branch President Brendan Foley and mother to Orla, Rosie and the late Anthony Foley.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam 🌹
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) May 23, 2025
The province are in Durban this week for a BKT URC quarter-final against the Sharks, and Costello says discussions have been taking place about an opportunity to honour the Foley and Payne families before the game on Saturday at Kings Park.
Perhaps more than any other Irish side, Munster have always leaned into the emotional side of the game, most notably after the deaths of Anthony Foley, Tom Tierney and Greig Oliver in recent years, and Costello says it remains an important part of the team's identity.
"Rugby is a very, very emotional game and I think any contact sport is. People talk about physically and mentally where you have to be. I think the third part of that is emotionally are you ready to invest everything you have and leave everything out on the pitch.
Munster Rugby are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Michelle Payne, a former Munster staff member and wife of former team manager & player Shaun Payne, after a two-year battle against breast cancer.
Our immediate thoughts are with Shaun, their children Dylan and Amy &…
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) May 21, 2025
"That's you as an individual and you as a team, and when emotionally you're connected to a purpose or to a cause that comes out in any team sport, especially one as physically demanding as rugby, and then when you add in pride in terms of our province, our identity and what we stand for, what we represent, the people, how much we want to make people proud of our performance, so they can identify with who we are and what we're about, I think all of that amplifies a lot of the good that's there already and I think a lot of sports teams do it really well.
"We really leaned into it the last couple of weeks to represent people that we really care about and what they mean to the organisation and that came out in the performance. We will continue that on this week as well."
Even before the events of recent days, emotion had been a major part of the team's preparations for the wins against Ulster and Benetton, as they gave Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray and Stephen Archer their final games in Limerick and Cork, barring some surprise results in the play-offs.
But Costello says while emotion will always be an important motivating factor, it has to be used in balance.
"That's exactly the crux of it. And that's where I think the quality of the coaches [comes in] and the experience they have, the situations they have been in and also the senior players.
"I won't go into what was said but Tadhg [Beirne] and Peter [O'Mahony] over the last couple of weeks, supported by other key guys like Jack [Crowley] and Craig [Casey], they spoke so well about the balance of using that emotion but also making sure it's balanced with a performance that's build on execution and accuracy and being really smart.
"Same thing as discipline, if you're over-aroused you give away too many penalties but you want to be playing right on that edge.
"When you've got coaches who are on it the way they are on it, and senior players that have lived it so many times, that really helps."
