Cathal Sheridan has admitted that he and his Munster teammates were left "shocked" by the announced departure of head coach Rob Penney.

Munster currently top the Pro12 standings and are into the quarter-final stage of the Heineken Cup, making Sheridan's decision even more surprising.

The New Zealander, who is expected to move to Japan, has spent two years at the Irish club.

"I think like any player, I assume they'd probably all tell you the same thing, we were as shocked as anyone when we heard the news," the scrum-half told the Irish Times. "There was no point in saying anything else but at the same time, Rob's got his own personal decisions to make.

"It's obviously disappointing because we're going quite well, but I think himself and Simon [Mannix, backs coach], when they said it to us, as they have been since they got here, they were incredibly professional about it.

"They said 'we're halfway through the season, we've a quarter-final to look forward to, we're fighting for a Rabo semi, there's no point in shaking hands, saying goodbye'."

Next up for Munster is a home clash against Zebre.