WATCHING DONNACHA RYAN in Racing 92′s defensive lineouts this afternoon in Paris will be a fascinating element of a game that is thoroughly difficult to predict.
The former Munster man goes up against his old team-mates for the first time, having missed out on these sides’ first clash at Thomond Park back in October.
That contest in Limerick served up a riveting lineout battle, with tit-for-tat steals and repeated spoiling of possession on both sides. The competition in the air was utterly ferocious and though the conditions will be very different under the U Arena’s roof today [KO 3.15pm Irish time, Sky Sports], it should be absorbing out of touch again.
[image alt="Peter O’Mahony wins a line out ahead of Yannick Nynaga" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2018/01/peter-omahony-wins-a-line-out-ahead-of-yannick-nynaga-630x417.jpg" width="630" height="417" class="alignnone" /end]
The introduction of Ryan to the mix only makes things more interesting.
With Leone Nakarawa, Wenceslas Lauret, Yannick Nyanga and Ryan all ready to spring off the deck, Munster are likely to be tested once again on their throw.
“I’ve watched them now for quite a while and I believe that after New Zealand they are possibly the best man-watch contesting side in the world,” says Munster head coach Johann van Graan.
They put your lineout under severe pressure, so we’ll have to be at our best to get some quality ball.”
Back in October, Munster did not get quality ball out of touch, but then neither did Racing.
Both teams were starved of their prime possession source on a wet night. A block-down try by Conor Murray changed the course of the game, but it was fascinating that both sides managed to score a try apiece thereafter when they finally did manage to win their own lineout and get a maul rumbling.
In Paris today, the side who gets cleaner possession at lineout time may well end up on top at the final whistle.
Van Graan isn’t just throwing false praise Racing’s way when he places them second only to New Zealand in terms of lineout defence – it is an area of major, major strength for the Top 14 club.
“Something that Racing are extremely impressive at is their lineout defence and their ability to read,” adds Munster captain Peter O’Mahony. “Obviously with Donners [Ryan] there now, it’s a little bit more difficult.”
[image alt="Lauret" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2018/01/lauret-630x377.gif" width="630" height="377" title="" class="alignnone" /end]
We get an example of Racing’s ‘man-watch’ ability above, as the springy Lauret man marks Peter O’Mahony, reads his intentions expertly and then explodes off the ground even before the Munster captain has started his own jump.
There is heavy analysis work involved here, of course, and Lauret is focused solely on O’Mahony – rather than marking a ‘zone’ of the lineout. He’s simply watching O’Mahony for the cues and makes a read based on those.
Even when Racing didn’t turnover the Munster throw, they spoiled and hassled back in October, as below.
[image alt="Spoil Maul" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2018/01/spoil-maul-630x377.gif" width="630" height="377" title="" class="alignnone" /end]
Again, Lauret is at the heart of this with his ‘man-watch’ on O’Mahony, providing competition in the air but then aggressively changing his focus to spoiling the maul when he lands, breaking through and bringing the ball to ground to prevent Munster from working up a head of steam.
It’s not just Lauret who works well in these areas – Nyanga and Nakarawa are also excellent at spoiling, while Ryan will feel he can make accurate reads of players he is very familiar with too.
Of course, Munster have a defensive lineout expert of their own in O’Mahony, rated by Paul O’Connell as the best back row lineout jumper in Europe.
[image alt="POM" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2018/01/pom-21-630x377.gif" width="630" height="377" title="" class="alignnone" /end]
The front of the defensive lineout is very much O’Mahony’s domain and his presence there can dissuade Munster’s opponents from throwing into that zone.
Back in October, O’Mahony combined well with the likes of Billy Holland and Jean Kleyn to make Racing’s lineout possession as scrappy as possible and they will look for more of that fine work today.
As we’ve mentioned before, two of the three tries scored at Thomond Park came from lineout possession, so it’s worth examining what went wrong from the defensive point of view in those cases.
[image alt="Maul" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2018/01/maul-26-630x377.gif" width="630" height="377" title="" class="alignnone" /end]
O’Mahony isn’t the jumper on the above occasion, and with Racing again tracking the blindside flanker, Holland is able to steal a march on Nyanga and get into the air ahead of him.
On this occasion, Nyanga doesn’t get back to ground to sack Holland or at least provide a strong front edge to the counter-mauling effort. Instead, he is almost on top of Holland and prevents his own team-mates from engaging properly.
It all means that Munster’s maul finally gets rolling and they make around 10 metres, getting onto the front foot and scoring 10 phases later.
Similarly, for the Racing try, Munster get into the air but then cannot effect a strong maul defence.
[image alt="Racing" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2018/01/racing-4-630x377.gif" width="630" height="377" title="" class="alignnone" /end]
Holland goes up to compete with Lauret but can’t get his sack in when they land back on the ground.
That leaves Holland in an upright position, without being able to get his hands over the top and onto the ball. When O’Mahony is also forced upright at the front of Munster’s maul defence, they have lost traction and Racing go all the way to the five-metre line, eventually leading to Nakarawa making a characteristic pick and go finish for the try.
It was very fitting that the final act of October’s game was a lineout failure from Racing just metres out from the Munster tryline as they looked to grab a draw. It couldn’t have ended anywhere else than at lineout time, and the contest today should be fierce again.
“We’ve got to go back to what we know, back to our basics, and trying to be accurate; top a jump, top a lift,” says O’Mahony.
“You’re going to be up alongside some impressive guys in the air who can read well and have the ability to defend lineouts very well. At this level, it’s a contest of the highest order, and that’s what it’s going to be again.”
Munster might go back to what they know, but Ryan will feel he also has a good sense of what that involves.
Racing 92:
15. Louis Dupichot
14. Teddy Thomas
13. Virimi Vakatawa
12. Henry Chavancy
11. Marc Andreu
10. Remi Tales
9. Maxime Machenaud
1. Eddy Ben Arous
2. Camille Chat
3. Ben Tameifuna
4. Donnacha Ryan
5. Edwin Maka
6. Yannick Nyanga
7. Wenceslas Lauret
8. Leone Nakarawa
Replacements:
16. Dimitri Szarzewski
17. Vasil Kakovin
18. Cedate Gomes Sa
19. Baptiste Chouzenoux
20. Boris Palu
21. Xavier Chauveau
22. Benjamin Dambielle
23. Joe Rokocoko
Munster:
15. Simon Zebo
14. Andrew Conway
13. Chris Farrell
12. Rory Scannell
11. Keith Earls
10. Ian Keatley
9. Conor Murray
1. Dave Kilcoyne
2. Rhys Marshall
3. Stephen Archer
4. Jean Kleyn
5. Billy Holland
6. Peter O’Mahony (captain)
7. Chris Cloete
8. CJ Stander
Replacements:
16. Kevin O’Byrne
17. James Cronin
18. John Ryan
19. Darren O’Shea
20. Jack O’Donoghue
21. Duncan Williams
22. JJ Hanrahan
23. Alex Wootton
Referee: Matthew Carley [RFU].
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