As we head into the end of this season, we find ourselves in an unusual position.

How often do you get a preview of two new signings six months early? When Lee Barron and Michael Milne joined on loan for the rest of the season, it was pure common sense from the IRFU, an expression of Leinster’s enviable depth, and a reminder of how thin our squad is in places, combined with our need for reinforcements after a series of attritional injuries in the last block of games.

It was hard to get a true read of Lee Barron at the weekend, given he was packing down at tighthead during uncontested scrums and was essentially playing as a flanker for the first 10 minutes of his time on the field. Still, he looked pretty good during phase play and comfortably more athletic with and without the ball in hand than Niall Scannell. They’re different types of hooker, of course, as is Diarmuid Barron, but Lee Barron certainly looked to have some of the pop in contact and dynamism around the field that we’ve badly needed this season, when we’ve been almost entirely reliant on Diarmuid Barron and Niall Scannell either being fit as a pair, or one of them doing 80 minutes.

That has been part of some wider reconstructive work that we’ve done to our hooker depth chart this season where Scott Buckley and Eoghan Clarke were allowed to leave on loan, with Clarke leaving full-time and Buckley expected to do the same. Lee Barron will play a fairly regular role for Munster in most games if he’s fit, alongside Diarmuid Barron, with Niall Scannell likely taking on that valuable “veteran third hooker” role. If all Munster’s plans from two or three seasons ago worked out as they were drawn up, Scannell would likely already be in that role or have already moved on from the club, but it just didn’t work out that way, as two or three prospects failed to work out.

As it stands, Scannell has been in the 1A/1B rotation with Diarmuid Barron for most of the season. Next season, we’ll use Scannell as a veteran cover guy off the bench as we rest and rotate the No Relation Barrons, with more reps for Danny Sheahan and Max Clein. All going “well” if one or both of Sheahan and Clein work out, it’ll likely be Scannell’s last deal at the club. I use inverted commas there as I’m aware I’m talking about a player’s livelihood.

Loosehead looks pretty good for next year, with Milne, Loughman and Wycherley looking like a solid rotation with guys like Donnelly and Ryan looking to push for more minutes if they can. I expect Dave Kilcoyne to finish up with the province this summer after only managing five games since the 2023 World Cup due to a series of wear and tear injuries, topped off with an Achilles injury suffered a few months ago.

I don’t think there’s a compelling argument for a NIQ hooker or loosehead this season, although McMillan might have ideas as to how and where he wants to beef up the squad once he arrives. A bit like when Rassie Erasmus joined in 2016, he quickly realised where we needed help. Jean Kleyn joined the club in July 2016 from the Stormers. Later that season, we’d sign Rhys Marshall in October 2016 on a three-year deal before bringing in Taute, Du Toit and Deysel on deals of varying length throughout that season.

Munster still have a few irons in the fire regarding potential signings, and looking at it now, there’s only one spot in the squad that makes sense in April 2025.

We need a tighthead.

I know what I said a few months ago, and I still mostly agree with it, but tighthead has developed into a problem position for us. Jager has started to pull together a few games in a row, but the issue is what’s happening behind him. As it stands, next season our chart is Oli Jager, John Ryan and then a bunch of question marks.

Rumour is that Stephen Archer is due to retire this season after completing this one on back-to-back six-month deals.

Roman Salanoa last played for Munster in the URC final in Cape Town in May 2023 – two years ago next month – and he’ll be 28 this October. Again, the rumours are that he’ll get a 12-month extension to prove his fitness, so we can decide whether he can deliver on his undoubted physical attributes by October/November of this year, but this hasn’t been confirmed. In my opinion, it’s as likely that both the player and Munster might look at parting ways this summer as Salanoa finishes his three-year deal. I’d get him a 12-month deal to see where we are after the pre-season if it were my call, and the budget allowed.

All we know for certain is that John Ryan is signed up until the end of next season and that Ronan Foxe will likely step up to a third year in the academy to get more experience next season if he can stay fit. He did well this season against the Sharks and off the bench against the All Blacks XV, but got snagged with a medium-term injury soon after.

Darragh McSweeney has spent three years in the academy but has yet to make a senior appearance, which has as much to do with near-constant medium and long-term injuries as anything else. I expect one, maybe two tightheads to be signed into the academy this summer, but that leaves a pretty big hole in our senior depth chart next year.

If we’re heading into Europe next season with Oli Jager and John Ryan as our starting rotation at tighthead, I think we’re already under the pump. Sure, Roman Salanoa might come back from nearly 24 months out of the game and be the same guy he was, but that’s unlikely as of now. It might happen… but would you bet your season on it?

It’s entirely plausible that, given Jager’s unfortunate propensity for 2-3 week knocks that we could be looking at John Ryan and either Keiran Ryan or Ronan Foxe starting games of consequence next season.

I’ve been through the delta on maximising a return on investment per minute from power players in previous articles. Here’s a pertinent bit that I’d like to revisit;

I don’t think Munster are looking at Tupou, to be honest. Maybe they have, and I don’t know about it, but his value is only useful as an example. As I wrote last week;

Most props you’re likely to sign will be either good for 50 minutes or 30 minutes, so the value per minute on that player is… expensive. So if you’re going to be taking approximately €400k-€600k out of your provincial budget on a prop with those power forward tendencies you’re looking for, you have to accept that (a) they will be playing just over or just under half the games you’re signing them for, (b) they usually come with a lot of knocks built in across the season and (c) the x-factor of the scrum means their impact can sometimes be negated entirely. 

This is the thinking Munster will likely follow. If Oli Jager is on a significant PONI contract for the next three seasons, does it make sense to sink the guts of €850,000 into your tighthead chart? Do you get the best bang for your buck in the modern game by putting that much money into one position?

In the last two games, we’ve seen the impact that Ben Tameifuna and Wilco Louw have on big games – and not just in the scrum. Their usage as solo lineout lifters and heavyweight collision winners on both sides of the ball are crucial level raisers for their teams. It’s not just about the guy who makes a barnstorming carry or who executes a killer strike play, it’s about the players who set the table for those moments to happen.

I mentioned in that quoted piece about the wisdom of spending €800k on one chart and whether you get bang for your buck in the modern game by spending it there.

I think the last few weeks have shown that you do.

I don’t think Munster need to go out spending €600k on a big name tighthead necessarily, but I think with a few guys finishing up and a few deeper squad players moving on, there might be scope to look for a player in the southern hemisphere market that can help to shore up regular season rotations – Jager rests one week, potential NIQ rests the week after – with guys like John Ryan, Ronan Foxe and maybe Roman Salanoa rotating through the campaign.