A BIT OF pressure rising and a testing trip on the road ahead. This is a position Munster know perhaps a little too well.
Of all the provinces, their task this weekend looked the most manageable on paper. Bayonne are Champions Cup newcomers and don’t tend to travel well. Instead Munster stunned on a cold and damp night at Thomond Park. From 14-3 up, they found themselves in a dogfight at 17-17, holding on for dear life to avoid another devastating blow as Bayonne looked to build on Rémy Baget late converted try. Jack Crowley had a chance to salvage a win with a drop goal, but saw the ball slip wide to the delight of the lively travelling French crowd.
Life rarely feels straightforward at Munster and now they head to Exeter looking to avoid another setback. The current Champions Cup format allows for a few slip-ups on the road to qualification for the knock-outs but with January games against Toulon and Northampton ahead, Graham Rowntree’s side would prefer to have some bit of comfort in the pool table over Christmas.
Exeter are not the force of old but will relish the chance to have a crack at the URC champions after they kicked off their own European campaign by stealing an impressive late win at Toulon.
This is a big week for Munster but as Rowntree was quick to highlight on Saturday, this squad have form when it comes to upsetting the odds away from home.
“They’re a good team, aren’t they?” Rowntree said of Exeter.
A historic team, they’ve got a rich pedigree, previous Champions Cup winners. I’ve got a lot of respect for them, had a lot to do with them over the past 15 years.
“It’s a big challenge. We’ve been away from home and in big challenges before, recently, and we’ll look forward to that at the start of the week. We’ll see what bodies we can pick, review the game, get better, look forward.”
Rowntree hopes to have Peter O’Mahony available as the influential flanker recovers from a shoulder injury. He’s one of a number of key men who could come back into the picture this week. Based on Saturday’s performance, Munster could certainly do with some reinforcements as they prepare to visit Sandy Park for the first time since a 13-8 defeat in April 2022.
“There’s a good handful there. The likes our big South African second rows, we won’t see them anytime soon but potentially Diarmuid Barron, Oli Jager, Shane Daly, Peter O’Mahony. There we go.
“You’ve got to roll with the punches in this gig. Everyone’s losing players, every club coach.
Luckily we’ve got young men who’ve been training with us for five months, the likes of Ben O’Connor and Shay McCarthy who are able to step up at the last minute and I thought those two were excellent tonight in the back three.
“So luckily the way our environment is, they were able to step in at the last moment but I’m not here chewing over injuries and selection, I’ve got to move on. It’s a distraction that is. You deal with the cards you’ve got.”
Whatever the personnel available at the weekend, Munster will need to be much better if they are to topple Exeter. Against Bayonne they had struggles around the setpiece but the main concern was a blunt attack which repeatedly left the 22 without anything to show for it.
“We’ve got to finish off the last metre, the last two metres, when we get near the goal line. That composure to get near their goal line and finish off those opportunities.
“Absolutely that it is the regret. You’ve got to be better than we were near their tryline.
“They’re an honest group, we’ve had a good honest chat there. We’ll have an honest review and we’ll pick ourselves up.
“We’re on the road again, we’ve got form on the road in the last year in big games. We’ve got form, and we’ve potentially got some guys coming back into the selection reckoning.
“It will be a difficult 48 hours for us, reviewing that and stewing over that, it feels like a loss. Then we’ll move forward quickly enough at the start of the week.”
