GIVEN THERE WAS a fortnight between their last regular-season game against the Lions and today’s quarter-final away to the Bulls, it’s curious that Munster decided to arrive in South Africa as late as Wednesday.
Clayton McMillan’s injury-depleted side have based themselves 45 minutes down the road in Johannesburg — which is roughly 1400 feet (424 metres) higher above sea level than Pretoria.
It typically takes athletes between three and seven days to acclimatise fully to such lofty conditions. Munster will have spent three days on the Highveld between touchdown at the airport and kick-off at Loftus Versfeld.
The air is thinner at altitude, which is to say it carries less oxygen. Kicks will travel further in a stadium like Loftus or Ellis Park, or the Denver Broncos’ Mile High Stadium in the NFL, because the fewer the molecules in the air, the less aerodynamic drag there is on the ball.
An unacclimatised athlete, however, will typically have their mileage cut short at such heights. When blood passes through their lungs without carrying as much oxygen as would be typical, it decreases their VO2 max — or the maximum amount of oxygen that the body can consume and convert into energy.
Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria. Steve Haag Sports / Christiaan Kotze/INPHO
Steve Haag Sports / Christiaan Kotze/INPHO / Christiaan Kotze/INPHO
A 2005 study by researchers Jon Peter Wehrlin and Jostein Hallén examined the effects of running at high altitudes on eight endurance athletes. They found that for every thousand feet of altitude increase, the athletes’ VO2 max dropped by 1.9%. The time it took for them to reach the point of exhaustion while running was also reduced by 4.4% per 1,000 feet of altitude.
Loftus is nearly 4,500 feet (1,370 metres) above sea level, so, in very rough terms, without adequate acclimatisation, a rugby forward that would typically begin to flag on the hour mark at sea level will begin to show the same signs of fatigue after just 48 minutes at the Bulls’ home ground.
The sign that hangs above the tunnel in the Bulls’ home stadium rightly issues a warning to visiting players: “Altitude. 1350m. It matters.”
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Munster’s hope will be that their three days spent in Johannesburg will have been enough for it to matter less.
This quarter-final is a tall order for the southern province, no matter which way you frame it. To call a spade a spade, Munster rarely look a good side without Jack Crowley and Tadhg Beirne, both of whom will miss out again through injury. Both were totemic for all 80 minutes during Munster’s only previous victory in Pretoria, a 27-22 bonus-point success in April 2024.
And while Beirne was also ruled out of Munster’s most recent trip to Pretoria in March, Crowley was again excellent as Munster earned two bonus points in a narrow regular-season defeat.
In Crowley’s absence ahead of today’s knockout tie, and with seemingly little to lose, there were calls from some supporters for Clayton McMillan to give a start to Year 1 academy prospect Tom Wood, who broadly impressed off the bench away to Glasgow on his senior debut back in January. Wood, however, has not featured for Munster since, and the province clearly feel that the young Limerick man’s time would be better spent preparing for the U20 World Cup.
JJ Hanrahan deserves to retain his place at 10 in any case after producing against the Lions the best performance of his third stint at his native province. Hanrahan was catalytic in Munster’s attack and played with the kind of snarl that one would more typically associate with Crowley, which was exactly what his side needed in a needly meeting with a dangerous Lions team.
Evan O’Connell, too, was spiteful against the men from Johannesburg and retains his place at lock to make a third start of the season.
The only change to Munster’s starting side is the introduction of Alex Nankivell at outside centre, with Dan Kelly moved to the bench. The Kiwi, who was a late withdrawal from the same position against the Lions, will likely cover out-half in the event of an injury to Hanrahan, with Munster opting for only Ben O’Donovan and Dan Kelly as backs cover among their replacements.
Edwin Edogbo and Jack Crowley are among Munster's injury absentees in Pretoria. Steve Haag Sports / Darren Stewart/INPHO
Steve Haag Sports / Darren Stewart/INPHO / Darren Stewart/INPHO
Johan Ackermann’s Bulls side is brimful of explosive talent. On the face of it, perhaps only starting Munster lock Tom Ahern and replacement back row Gavin Coombes — on a good day — could be considered more impactful players on paper than their opposite numbers, albeit Ruan Vermaak and Jeandré Rudolph, respectively, are fine players in their own right.
That the Bulls are around 1/9 favourites to advance to what would be a fifth URC semi-final for the Pretorians, and that the handicap currently sits at 15 points, puts into context the challenge facing a Munster side down two of their three best players, and without nine more first-teamers to boot — including the influential Edwin Edogbo and Tom Farrell.
It feels a bit of a trope these days to say ‘wouldn’t it be just like Munster to pull this off?’ It wouldn’t, really, anymore: they’ve been poor underdogs on their travels this season, and they’ll likely run out of breath in Pretoria.
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Absences of Beirne and Crowley feel insurmountable for Munster in lofty Pretoria
GIVEN THERE WAS a fortnight between their last regular-season game against the Lions and today’s quarter-final away to the Bulls, it’s curious that Munster decided to arrive in South Africa as late as Wednesday.
Clayton McMillan’s injury-depleted side have based themselves 45 minutes down the road in Johannesburg — which is roughly 1400 feet (424 metres) higher above sea level than Pretoria.
It typically takes athletes between three and seven days to acclimatise fully to such lofty conditions. Munster will have spent three days on the Highveld between touchdown at the airport and kick-off at Loftus Versfeld.
The air is thinner at altitude, which is to say it carries less oxygen. Kicks will travel further in a stadium like Loftus or Ellis Park, or the Denver Broncos’ Mile High Stadium in the NFL, because the fewer the molecules in the air, the less aerodynamic drag there is on the ball.
An unacclimatised athlete, however, will typically have their mileage cut short at such heights. When blood passes through their lungs without carrying as much oxygen as would be typical, it decreases their VO2 max — or the maximum amount of oxygen that the body can consume and convert into energy.
A 2005 study by researchers Jon Peter Wehrlin and Jostein Hallén examined the effects of running at high altitudes on eight endurance athletes. They found that for every thousand feet of altitude increase, the athletes’ VO2 max dropped by 1.9%. The time it took for them to reach the point of exhaustion while running was also reduced by 4.4% per 1,000 feet of altitude.
Loftus is nearly 4,500 feet (1,370 metres) above sea level, so, in very rough terms, without adequate acclimatisation, a rugby forward that would typically begin to flag on the hour mark at sea level will begin to show the same signs of fatigue after just 48 minutes at the Bulls’ home ground.
The sign that hangs above the tunnel in the Bulls’ home stadium rightly issues a warning to visiting players: “Altitude. 1350m. It matters.”
Munster’s hope will be that their three days spent in Johannesburg will have been enough for it to matter less.
This quarter-final is a tall order for the southern province, no matter which way you frame it. To call a spade a spade, Munster rarely look a good side without Jack Crowley and Tadhg Beirne, both of whom will miss out again through injury. Both were totemic for all 80 minutes during Munster’s only previous victory in Pretoria, a 27-22 bonus-point success in April 2024.
And while Beirne was also ruled out of Munster’s most recent trip to Pretoria in March, Crowley was again excellent as Munster earned two bonus points in a narrow regular-season defeat.
In Crowley’s absence ahead of today’s knockout tie, and with seemingly little to lose, there were calls from some supporters for Clayton McMillan to give a start to Year 1 academy prospect Tom Wood, who broadly impressed off the bench away to Glasgow on his senior debut back in January. Wood, however, has not featured for Munster since, and the province clearly feel that the young Limerick man’s time would be better spent preparing for the U20 World Cup.
JJ Hanrahan deserves to retain his place at 10 in any case after producing against the Lions the best performance of his third stint at his native province. Hanrahan was catalytic in Munster’s attack and played with the kind of snarl that one would more typically associate with Crowley, which was exactly what his side needed in a needly meeting with a dangerous Lions team.
Evan O’Connell, too, was spiteful against the men from Johannesburg and retains his place at lock to make a third start of the season.
The only change to Munster’s starting side is the introduction of Alex Nankivell at outside centre, with Dan Kelly moved to the bench. The Kiwi, who was a late withdrawal from the same position against the Lions, will likely cover out-half in the event of an injury to Hanrahan, with Munster opting for only Ben O’Donovan and Dan Kelly as backs cover among their replacements.
Johan Ackermann’s Bulls side is brimful of explosive talent. On the face of it, perhaps only starting Munster lock Tom Ahern and replacement back row Gavin Coombes — on a good day — could be considered more impactful players on paper than their opposite numbers, albeit Ruan Vermaak and Jeandré Rudolph, respectively, are fine players in their own right.
That the Bulls are around 1/9 favourites to advance to what would be a fifth URC semi-final for the Pretorians, and that the handicap currently sits at 15 points, puts into context the challenge facing a Munster side down two of their three best players, and without nine more first-teamers to boot — including the influential Edwin Edogbo and Tom Farrell.
It feels a bit of a trope these days to say ‘wouldn’t it be just like Munster to pull this off?’ It wouldn’t, really, anymore: they’ve been poor underdogs on their travels this season, and they’ll likely run out of breath in Pretoria.
Bulls
15. Willie le Roux
14. Kurt-Lee Arendse
13. Canan Moodie
12. Harold Vorster
11. Stravino Jacobs
10. Handre Pollard
9. Embrose Papier
1. Gerhard Steenekamp
2. Johan Grobbelaar
3. Wilco Louw
4. Ruan Vermaak
5. Ruan Nortje
6. Marcell Coetzee (capt)
7. Elrigh Louw
8. Cameron Hanekom
Replacements:
16. Marco van Staden
17. Jan-Hendrik Wessels
18. Francois Klopper
19. Cobus Wiese
20. Jeandre Rudolph
21. Paul de Wet
22. Stedman Gans
23. Sergeal Petersen
Munster
15. Mike Haley
14. Andrew Smith
13. Alex Nankivell
12. Seán O’Brien
11. Shane Daly
10. JJ Hanrahan
9. Craig Casey (C)
1. Jeremy Loughman
2. Niall Scannell
3. Michael Ala’alatoa
4. Tom Ahern
5. Evan O’Connell
6. Jack O’Donoghue
7. John Hodnett
8. Brian Gleeson
Replacements:
16. Diarmuid Barron
17. Josh Wycherley
18. Conor Bartley
19. Fineen Wycherley
20. Gavin Coombes
21. Ben O’Donovan
22. Dan Kelly
23. Alex Kendellen
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
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