Graham Rowntree Comes Full Circle At Musgrave Park

23rd August 2022 By The Editor

Graham Rowntree at Musgrave Park as a 17-year-old in 1989.

It will be a special occasion for Graham Rowntree and his family as Graham will lead Munster Rugby as Head Coach for the first time at Musgrave Park on Friday night, 33 years after his first visit to Cork.

Rowntree lined out for the England Schoolboys against Ireland at Musgrave Park on March 25, 1989.

See some brilliant pics from the Rowntree family archive below.

Graham Rowntree at Musgrave Park (centre of pic, next to corner flag)

He made his debut for Leicester one year later and went on to have a fantastic 17-year playing career with the Tigers, making an incredible 398 appearances for the club and winning two European Cups along with four consecutive Premiership titles.

At international level, Rowntree earned a total of 54 caps for England, as well as participating in two Lions tours.

Since hanging up his boots in 2007, Rowntree has amassed a huge amount of coaching experience in different environments.

Rowntree was assistant coach on the 2009, 2013 and 2017 British and Irish Lions Tours.

He held the roles of Assistant Coach and Forwards Coach with England Rugby over a seven-year period and also coached Georgia at international level. He has previously worked as Forwards Coach with Premiership sides Harlequins and Leicester Tigers.

He joined Munster as Forwards Coach in 2019 and moved to the role of Head Coach over the summer, watch his first interview as Head Coach below.