MUNSTER COACH GRAHAM Rowntree resembled a Cheshire Cat at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night after his team fought their way to end the Vodacom Bulls 21-game winning streak at home against foreign opposition.
But at the same time as he was soaking up another famous win for the Red Army in South Africa, he set out a warning to other sides in the league that his team aren’t about to relinquish their title without a massive fight, and that the team is hitting form at the right time for a run into the playoffs.
Munster’s win meant they leapfrogged the Bulls into third and moved within five points of Leinster, whose second-stringers lost to the Lions about 60km up the road.
Rowntree said the side would take it week by week as they look to build on another late run into the playoff rounds in order to defend the title they famously won in Cape Town last year.
“We are used to this – pressure games at the end of the season and we take it week by week. We have another game like this next week, and that’s it, game by game. See what we have available and how the bodies present themselves on Monday morning,” he said.
“We’ll reflect on the game, there were still elements we have to improve on, but our composure was special tonight. Then I’ll have a look at the league. We have some tired bodies and we will keep looking forward game by game.”
Asked how the team won where so many others had failed at altitude, Rowntree gave a straightforward simple answer.
“We had a good plan going into this game against this team, at altitude. We stuck to that plan,” the no-nonsense coach said.
“We spoke at the end of the game about dealing with adversity and moving on quickly from errors. I thought we did that. We were in a good place at half-time, and not such a good place in the third quarter but we kept playing. We had an exceptional bench to come onto the field.
“We have so much respect for South African teams and when you come down here and have a short training week at altitude, you have got to be good and I’m immensely proud of the lads for that effort today against a very good team.”
And he warned that while their defensive effort was exceptional, it could be a lot better in the next few weeks.
“We can be so much better, especially in those goal-line stands. We have one of the best defensive coaches in the league that the players believe in and you need that coming down here. To defend the power game and how these teams can rip you apart on counter attack, you have to have a good defence.”
Munster will return to Cape Town this week, the scene of so many memories from last year, to prepare for the Lions, and will fly back on Friday to Johannesburg for their Saturday meeting with a Lions team that will be confident and desperate to cement their place in the top eight of the URC.