Costello has temporarily replaced Graham Rowntree, whose shock departure was announced on Tuesday, but he is set to return to his position as Munster’s head of rugby operations as soon as a long-term replacement is appointed.
Costello will oversee matters this week, ahead of Saturday’s sold-out clash against the All Blacks XV at Thomond Park before the Limerick man resumes what was a newly-created position that he took on last year.
“No. No, I’m very comfortable with that,” Costello responded when asked if he was interested in becoming Munster’s full-time head coach.
“We’re going to start the process of looking for the next head coach but take our time.
“We’ll make sure we find the right person and the right fit. My role is structured very much around long-term, strategic positioning in terms of the club, succession planning, depth charts and it’s very heavily linked to performance management.
“I’m really enjoying it if I’m honest and it’s one that I think suits me, and I think it’s one that’s important for the club as well, and it’s evolved very, very nicely.
“So, I’m very comfortable and I’ve said this to the lads internally and that won’t change. So from the outset we’ll start that process of looking for a head coach until we find the right fit.”
Asked to shed some light on the circumstances that led to Rowntree leaving the province so abruptly, Costello, who previously filled in as Munster head coach against Wasps during the Covid-hit game in December 2021, said: “I can’t really comment beyond what we released in terms of ‘mutually agreed’ and that’s as much as we can say really out of respect for the process and respect for Graham as well.
“I think it’s not something that you expect. It’s a big deal, it’s a major transition in terms of your head coach and it’s something that we’ve had to work through over the last couple of days, and that’s what we’re trying to do now, obviously with a really big occasion at the weekend.
“But it’s been a tough couple of days, and we’ve managed it as well as we possibly can and tried to turn the page in moving on to a game this weekend.”
Munster have stressed that they will not rush into hiring a new boss until they identify the right candidate.
“The key will be the right person, the right fit and at the moment, we are lucky that there are some quality staff, coaches and support staff (in the setup),” Costello continued.
“Stability and consistency will be key going forward, and then we will look at the rest after the game on Saturday.”
Asked how the players reacted to the news that Rowntree had left as head coach just six games into the new season, Costello admitted:
“Being very honest, there was a range of reactions and we made sure we allowed for that and gave everyone space for that. There are some people that say sport is tough and they move on quickly, a lot of people would have found the news tough.
“We got together as a group, connected, spent time together and talked our way through it, and made ourselves available for any questions the players had.
“I think like anything it’s such a major transition and major change and we’ll handle it like that if I’m honest. We’ve got some really good people in the building with a lot of experience and we put a lot of thought into how we would manage the last two days.
“The first thing we did was, we named it, we faced it, we talked about it, and we made it clear that it was okay to talk about it. We didn’t need to whisper in corridors and we addressed it as a group.
“We had to do it remotely on Tuesday because we were off and we just got in from South Africa on Monday, but then we got together as a group, staff and players, and we took the morning to talk through it and what the impact was. I suppose that was my initial job, to talk through it and then outline what the next steps looked like.
“Then we had a day and a half to prepare for a big game at the weekend, so the second half of the day was about setting the scene for what is a massive game at the weekend.
“We gave people space and time, there was a good bounce back today in training at Thomond Park.”
Paying tribute to Rowntree’s Munster legacy, Costello added: “Starting with that, that’s one part, that’s the very visible piece. We won a trophy (the URC in 2023), we finished top of the league last season and he was the coach of the year last season.
“I think that it’s fair to say that he’s one of the most recognisable coaches of any province. He lived the true values of Munster constantly and I think he was a guy that was loved by the supporters, by the community and had a huge connection to the province.
“Look, on a personal level I couldn’t speak positively enough about Graham. He’s been really good to me, good to the club, and I think that’s why there has been such a reaction to the news this week.”
