Munster's strength at out half is a huge issue and needs to be addressed before the new season

WHILE Munster are still basking in the afterglow of their historic URC title in South Africa a few weeks ago it looks like a crisis could be coming down the tracks at outhalf, which has the potential to de-rail the momentum gained from this year’s silverware success.

Ben Healy played seventeen games for Munster last season, but is now on his way to Edinburgh after throwing his lot in with Scottish rugby. 

The Tipperary native will be a huge loss to Munster.

That is 602 minutes of rugby the now Scottish international contributed to the Munster cause last year, which is 602 minutes that Munster now have to replace.

The next in line in the outhalf stakes is 21-year-old Clare youngster Tony Butler, who has only played eight minutes for Munster so far in his fledgling career, and that came in the famous Champions Cup win over Wasps two seasons ago, when Munster were down 34 players due to the South African covid ordeal of the time.

Butler has been learning his trade since with Garryowen in the AIL and definitely needs to start getting game time for Munster now, but it would be a huge ask for him to be expected to put in the type of minutes that Healy did.

And, of course, this is assuming that Jack Crowley and Joey Carbery are fit and available to play as frequently as they did in the just completed campaign. 

Crowley played 23 times in the entire season, starting 15 times, for a game time of 1334 minutes, while Carbery, despite his end of season issues, managing 19 appearances, with 15 starts and 1085 minutes.

If Crowley or Carbery pick up a long-term injury Butler would be expected to not only fill in for Healy’s lost minutes, but Crowley’s or Carbery’s also. That would be official crisis territory for Graham Rowntree’s side.

Rory Scannell would be an option, but it seems a long time since he has operated as an outhalf. 

You certainly would not be expecting any more than five or six appearances in the no. 10 shirt for the Dolphin man.

JJ Hanrahan might have been re-signed, but he has signed for Connacht already, while former Connacht outhalf, and Munster academy player at that, Conor Fitzgerald was released by the province, so could be a viable option to provide cover under the circumstances. 

This is the level of signing that we can expect, as with Crowley and Carbery in situ a major signing is not viable.

It would be wonderful if Munster were heading into next year with Crowley, Carbery and Healy, but it is not to be, and what is more frustrating is the fact that it was all so preventable.

David Nucifora is in charge of the controls of Irish Rugby when it comes to moving players around, and Andy Farrell is obviously the Irish coach, and their actions have actually cost Munster two homegrown outhalves in the past two years.

This time last year Munster lost the services of Tipperary’s Jake Flannery, as it was judged that Munster should not hoard four outhalves when other provinces were struggling in that area. 

That all makes perfect sense, until you look at Leinster and notice that behind Jonathan Sexton there is a queue comprising of Ross Byrne, Harry Byrne, Sam Prendergast, Ciaran Frawley and Charlie Tector. 

That’s six outhalves, yet there is no talk of them having to be moved on. Where is the consistency?

And then we’re left with Healy’s departure. 

The final nail in the coffin was when Farrell and his team invented the Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa last year, which seemed to be solely created to give Ciaran Frawley sufficient game time at outhalf to learn the role. 

As it was a virtual second-string squad you could take it that if you were not included that you just were not rated by Farrell, and that is exactly where Healy was at that time. It made his decision to defect to Scotland all the easier. 

It’s nice to feel wanted after all.

Frawley ended up getting injured and didn’t even make the plane, with Jack Crowley travelling and making a name for himself instead. South African trips have been kind to the Cork Con youngster in the past twelve months.

Munster are in a superb position after winning their first trophy in twelve years, but the departures of Flannery and Healy means that what could have been a generational collection of homegrown tens is now potentially a crisis area, which should never have been allowed happen.