AS THEIR SEASON hangs by a thread, Munster head coach Anthony Foley has called on the province’s supporters to get behind his team for their make-or-break clash with Edinburgh.
Munster’s slim hopes of reaching the Pro12 playoffs were all but extinguished on Saturday with a heavy defeat in Galway but there is still the small matter of Champions Cup qualification to play for.
The southern province are precariously placed in seventh in the standings with just two games remaining, with their next assignment against sixth-placed Edinburgh on 29 April.
And Foley, whose position is coming under increased scrutiny, has urged the Munster fans to help the players battle back against the Scottish side.
“We need massive turnout in Musgrave Park and for them [the fans] to get in behind the boys,” he said after Saturday’s defeat. “Their effort is phenomenal. They need all the support they can get.”
“It’s massive, massive.
“We’ve got to be tight and make sure we are properly prepared and we have to make sure that we give it a big shot down in Cork and that we get a result.
“That’s the most important thing. We watched Edinburgh in the RDS and they are a very good side stacked with internationals. They will be a hard side to shift but we will need to shift them. We need to make sure we’re ready for that job.”
Munster have now lost three out of their last four Pro12 outings and are in real danger of missing out on qualification for Europe’s elite competition.
With two home games to round off the campaign, Foley’s side will be confident of finishing with two wins to give themselves the best possible chance of claiming that final Champions Cup berth.
“It’s professional sport. We need to get down and dirty and we need to get points. It has been that way for a while, the last number of weeks. Some games have gone our way, some haven’t. We need to focus right back in on ourselves and make sure we get our own jobs done.”
Asked if his side’s fate is still in their own hands, Foley added: “You’d like to think a lot of things are in your control but then other people make decisions.”
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