MUNSTER COACH ROB Penney pretty much summed up his season so far with one clipped sentence.
“It could have been better, it could have been worse.”
If Munster are to be judged on their Heineken Cup displays, then he’s spot on. Going into week three Munster are a 50% team: one win, one loss. Fortunately, their three rivals in Pool six are in the same boat and a losing bonus point has landed the province in second place.
The problem for Penney and his squad is where that losing bonus point came from. In pre-season he might just have taken off his one-game-at-a-time hat and considered taking at least eight points into this weekend’s round three meeting with Perpignan at Thomond Park. Instead, he was left with five, and under fire for publicly criticising his players in public after a dismal opening day display in Edinburgh.
The coming 10 days could shape his second season in Ireland. With his two-year contract ticking down, every Heineken Cup game is now do or die.
“We’ve got to do the job at home, otherwise there is no point in jumping on the plane to Perpignan.” Penney said in Limerick yesterday.“Sunday at Thomond Park we hope will bring a great performance, and hopefully on the back of that, a great result.”
What will give the Munster squad a little added confidence of achieving that dual target is the knowledge that, since that mauling in Murrayfield, they have bounced back. Not only were Gloucester dealt with the following week, but all five games presented to them have ended in victory, leaving Penney’s side as league leaders in the Pro12.
A look closer to satisfaction crosses Penney’s face as the streak is mentioned, but quickly points out that further improvements must be made.
“We’d be first to criticise our own performances at a time when we’re not playing that well, but we’re getting results.
Destiny
“It by no means masks the frailties in our game. We’re working hard to rectify those and be more competent in every area of the game. It’s taken time, but there’s a bit of resolve and fortitude being shown from the guys who hadn’t had a lot of experience last year.”
Collective and individual improvement is all the head coach is calling for. From here on in, ‘could have been better’ won’t cut it. No wonder, then, that Penney would offer important counterweights either side of his neutralist assessment in the season so far:
“We’re masters of our own destiny.”
“We’re still in the hunt.”
