Former head coach, Rob Penney has indicated that he will not take over from Rassie Erasmus.

The new Zealander insists that he won’t be returning to Ireland to take over the reins at Munster but implied that he would like to return to Ireland some day.

Penney, who guided Munster to two European Cup semi-finals in his couple of seasons in charge of the Reds, is currently coaching NTT communications in Japan and says he won’t be considering a move away until at least 2019.

During this summer’s tour to Japan in June, some Munster players took Penney out for dinner around the same time the announcement that Erasmus would be leaving the province, adding to speculation that he would be taking over.

Penney, who is a former New Zealand under 20 coach also, ruled out a return anytime soon.

“I’ve just confirmed for two more years here which takes to me to just short of the World Cup, so we will decide based on where the family is at and our situation then what we will decide to do.

“But hopefully there will be enough petrol left in the tank and I’d like to keep involved if I can.

“I am not available for anything at the moment. But who knows what’s next, we will just have to wait and see,” 

However, the Kiwi didn’t rule anything out once he is finished in Japan, saying

“You just never know in this game, you certainly don’t. If the opportunity came up (returning to Ireland or the northern hemisphere), surely I would be very open to it. But, for now, I have committed to staying with NTT here in Japan until 2019 and we will see what happens after that,”