That much became clear when within weeks of Graham Rowntree’s sudden exit by mutual consent as head coach on October 29, Prendergast and defence coach Denis Leamy signed two-year contract extensions, followed a month later by a new deal for skills and assistant attack coach Mossy Lawler. With head of rugby operations Ian Costello ruling himself out as a successor but installed as interim boss, a role he will now continue until the end of the season before becoming Munster’s general manager, Prendergast publicly threw his hat into the ring for the head coach vacancy in December. A month later he was named as Ireland A head coach for a one-off fixture against their England counterparts which was played in Bristol last Sunday. His imprint on Munster’s attacking style is much more deeper etched as the Reds have expanded their playbook and improved their skillsets since his arrival in the summer of 2022 from Racing 92 as a key figure in Rowntree’s new coaching staff which would deliver the URC title at the first attempt the following May. On Wednesday, Munster were at pains to point out the relationship Prendergast will enjoy with the new head coach, stating he and McMillan will be working closely with one another while chief executive Ian Flanagan cited his “huge confidence in our new high performance structure which will be led by Ian, Clayton and Mike". IRFU performance director David Humphreys had the final say on McMillan’s appointment and briefed Irish rugby media on January 27 that an announcement on the Munster vacancy would come “within a few weeks”. At that briefing he also gave an indication of Munster’s direction of travel and the importance of its existing permanent coaching staff to it. "From our point of view we have confidence with the people who are in the room,” Humphreys had said, “but it's making sure that the process we now go through ensures we are giving Munster the best chance to be successful and continue to be competitive. “The fact that this process has been ongoing is never any reflection on what's there. I think because of the nature of Munster as a club, as a province, because of the level of job that that is, we just had to make sure that we explored every option… We're very comfortable with the people that are in the room. “To me, from some of the processes that I've been involved in, other people looking in, if we go for an external appointment, they will see that as a real strength because they bring not just technical, tactical qualities but it's also they bring a real identity of who Munster is and we want Munster to be big going forward.” Munster have landed themselves a serious rugby operator on a three-year deal in McMillan but in their other appointments on Wednesday night they and the IRFU have laid down much deeper foundations and that is to be applauded.