Munster’s mental strength
Ok, it wasn’t a decisive Heineken Cup encounter but Rob Penney’s men still had to show their ability to score tries under pressure. For the second weekend in a row, Munster won with the last play of the game, with JJ Hanrahan featuring prominently on both occasions.
The southern province’s performance for much of the previous 80 minutes had been sloppy, with a lack of precision in their handling in particular. However, the clarity of thought in that closing passage was impressive, even if there was possibly a knock-on involved.
Duncan Williams was intelligent enough to realise that the Scarlets defence would be rushing up on Hanrahan, the forwards were patient in battering at the try-line, then Hanrahan trusted his kicking skills to give the scoring pass. Focus on the process rather than the circumstances; a good habit for Munster to have seemingly developed.
Have Connacht turned a corner?
The dramatic victory over the Dragons is quite probably a game Connacht would have lost just three weeks ago. The atmosphere in Galway is different these days though, largely thanks to that stunning Heineken Cup win away to Toulouse.
Pat Lam’s hope would have been that that shock acted as an ignition of Connacht’s season, sparking belief in a squad that had been growing accustomed to losing. It’s always remarkable how big a difference one result can make to a sports team’s mentality, and this may be the case here.
Five points down with six minutes left in miserable weather conditions, Connacht refused to give up on the win. With inter-provincial derbies against Munster and Leinster to come in the next two weeks, we will soon find out whether Connacht have turned their season around, or if it’s simply a mirage.
Jared Payne steps up his claims at 13
YouTube credit: RaboDirect PRO12
The Kiwi was one of the few positive points in what Ulster coach Mark Anscombe described as a “pretty damn horrible” performance from his side. Back in the outside centre position, Payne provided the game’s outstanding moment with his wonderful solo try.
The line he ran was pacy and powerful, also showing his ability to spot space and weak defenders in the opposition defence. Zebre out-half Luciano Orquera had set up slightly narrow in the defensive line, leaving a hint of space on his outside shoulder.
Payne burst into the half-gap, intelligently using his body to slip the Italy international’s attempted tackle, before selling a dummy to the uninterested Leonardo Sarto. More promising signs that Payne can convert into an excellent 13.
What has happened to Leinster’s attack?
The 40-7 drubbing of Northampton three weeks ago appeared to be the point at which Leinster’s attacking game – up until that point largely lacking in the accuracy that made them three-time European champions – finally awoke.
The two weeks since have failed to back up that impression though, with the 11-6 loss away to Edinburgh on Friday night featuring lots of forced passes and mis-communications when Matt O’Connor’s men had the ball.
There is no reason to get carried away by two consecutive defeats for Leinster, but the level of performance has been insufficient. ‘Back to basics’ doesn’t necessarily mean a boring game plan, rather a focus on doing the core skills well – rucking, passing, supporting, communicating. Next weekend’s clash with Ulster at the RDS presents the chance to do exactly that.
Let’s make rugby a summer sport
In truth, it was a rather dour weekend of Pro12 rugby, with the clash between Glasgow and Treviso actually called off due to the shocking weather. The rest of the schedule featured multitudes of handling errors and was generally forgettable.
There were of course moments of real quality and excitement, but does anyone really enjoy the winter months of rugby? Supporters often get drenched, props suffer with slippy pitches and backs hands get really cold.
In seriousness though, there would be great advantages to shifting the season to centre around the summer, particularly as it would finally mean a global season. It’s not going to happen any time soon, but it’s worthy of discussion.
