AMID THE DARK and dreary days of Munster’s European pool campaign there was always a sense that something more intriguing lay just below the surface.
That the teething problems being endured would pass and the province would have a sharp, incisive set of gnashers to work with come 2021 or so.
If any of the four provinces was going to be strengthened by a five-month fast forward, then it was Munster.
The pool draw for the Champions Cup ensured 2019/20 was always going to be an uphill struggle for a side with aspirations so tightly wound with Europe. Yet they had been making a fair fist of matters in the Pro14 through the winter and go into the restart just two points behind Conference B pace-setters Edinburgh.
With an eight-point lead over third-place Scarlets, their place in the semis isn’t 100% nailed on, but they have every right to target topping their side of the draw.
Every side knows they must go through Leinster at some point to win a title, but Ulster would hardly take offence if they found out Munster preferred chasing top spot in Conference B in order to face the northern province in a semi-final than the hosts at the Aviva Stadium.
We touched on Ulster having wiggle room to build slowly into the curtailed business end ahead. Munster’s place in the semis is almost as secure, bet with just the one carrot dangled before them they will be intent on hitting the ground running in pursuit of it.
The lack of a European interest means, barring injury, Johann van Graan will have far less cause to consider rotating his squad and can instead set his side up for an intense hopefully-four-week climb towards the Pro14 crown.
Squad depth has been a question on our lips in recent weeks on The42, but for Munster to challenge for the title they must be hoping that it won’t be necessary to delve far beyond their top layers of players.
Van Graan was asked about his young and academy prospects last month and his response was interesting, pointing towards Sevens tournaments and A games while saying “close to everyone’s going to play”.
Damien De Allende and RG Snyman will certainly have a role, the World Cup winning pair come in as some of the most exciting foreign recruits to these shores in quite some time. These are signings in the ilk of Brad Thorn, Doug Howlett and Ruan Pienaar. There is no project around them, just an abundance of potential around what the impact they might make in and for Munster.
Passing them in socially distanced fashion at the door are players who made up fringe elements of the southern province’s squad in recent years. Conor Oliver and the internationally-capped Sam Arnold will be eager to make an impression when they make Connacht their third province and Alex Wootton will also move north on loan to strengthen a Munster alumni in Galway.
The big question for Munster must be how will Steven Larkham’s influence manifest itself after the long break? There were undeniable signs of growth in their gameplan’s ambition throughout the first half of last season, but the pandemic has not afforded great tracts of coaching time and space to anyone. At least not on-field coaching.
Larkham and Johann van Graan must feel a delicate balance between instilling something for the year, years, ahead when innate cup rugby DNA could serve them well over a truncated Pro14.
As positive as the restart looks for Munster with new signings and fit-again Tadhg Beirne arriving like the cavalry, it does seem to come around just too soon for Joey Carbery. His absence in the last campaign was a major reason that it felt like an in-between season for Munster. But following his injury aggravations, he is due back in action come September.
Ireland will get first dibs again, but with any luck Carbery will be primed and ready for a season in red with some big guns blazing alongside him.
