MUNSTER REMAIN ALIVE in the URC, and perhaps more importantly, the province will once again be a Champions Cup team next season.
The implications of that are huge. Not just in terms of status for such a storied rugby club, but also financially. An organisation already dealing with financial issues don’t need to be missing out on Champions Cup money in their current situation, and nobody in Thomond Park on Saturday needed to be reminded of that.
There were already nerves floating around the ground before kick-off, which only heightened as Jack Crowley was confirmed as a late withdrawal from the team. Munster themselves looked nervous in the opening minutes before turning in a gritty performance to seal a hard-earned win over the Lions and move from ninth to fifth in the URC table, booking their spot in the quarter-finals.
The result bookmarked a testing couple of months for the province, with the Roger Randle situation unfolding as Munster staff dealt with news of redundancies coming down the line. Last week, Munster commissioned an independent governance and organisational review to assess “the organisation’s governance, leadership, culture and communications structures”.
Craig Casey captained Munster on the night. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
All of this as disappointing results saw Munster exit the Champions Cup in the pool stages, drop out of the Challenge Cup at the first hurdle and slide down the URC table.
Add it all up and imagine the pressure that can weigh on players’ shoulders. Some haven’t been happy with elements of the media coverage around Munster. Others might pay less attention to outside commentary, but the internal challenges have been impossible to ignore.
By qualifying for next season’s Champions Cup Munster’s players have eased some of the burden on the organisation’s finances, and that fed into the evident feeling of relief following the 24-17 win.
When interviewed on the pitch post-game, Munster captain Craig Casey was sure to mention the staff worrying about their jobs. Later in the night, he expanded on the point as he joined Clayton McMillan for the post-match press conference.
“It’s definitely not something we talked about all week but I think it’s something we have mentioned over the last few weeks,” Casey said.
“Look, there has been a lot thrown at us as a club, and it is sad.
There’s a lot of good people that won’t be in a job next year or whenever it happens and they’re always who we’re fighting for. We know exactly what the club is built on.
“It’s built on Champions Cup rugby and whatever bit of cash that the Champions Cup can bring in might help those people. So it’s definitely been motivation in the background. We’ve chatted about it once or twice.
“I did mention it outside though (during the on-pitch interview). I’m very proud of how the group have handled that. How we’ve stuck together, including the coaching staff and everyone in our circle.
Advertisement
“I think it’s been excellent and we know we’re a resilient group but I suppose when it goes past rugby itself you see real character within the group and I’m very proud of the boys for that.”
Munster boss McMillan was also proud of a performance which booked a URC quarter-final trip to face the Bulls on 30 May.
Munster's Gavin Coombes, Craig Casey and Evan O'Connell. Dan Clohessy / INPHO
Dan Clohessy / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s not a place that we fear going to,” McMillan said.
“It’s obviously a little bit arduous to jump on a plane and get over there, but once you’re there the conditions are generally good and the boys have played fairly well there a couple of months ago.
“The toughest thing is to get to finals. There are a lot of good teams that, their season’s over, you know, and we’ve earned another week and when you get to finals, there’s no points at stake, it’s just win the game. So there’s eight teams that all have a chance and we’ll go and throw the kitchen sink at them.”
Munster will hope to have Crowley available in Pretoria, as the out-half continues to struggle with a neural leg issue.
The 26-year-old had missed Munster’s previous two games with the injury and was in line to start on Saturday before dropping out before kick-off.
“It’s obviously a bit of a concern because it’s a recurring injury,” McMillan admitted.
Jack Crowley had been due to start against the Lions. Dan Clohessy / INPHO
Dan Clohessy / INPHO / INPHO
“Just that no one’s really able to get a handle on exactly what’s going on. He would have had a pretty decent week of training. We had a good hit out here on Thursday, training here and he took a full part in that and no dramas. And then just got to today and again the neural stuff just kick in.
“So look, it’s way above my station what’s going on with his body but I’m sure it will come right. We’ve got a two week lead-in to the Bulls so I’d be reasonably confident that he’d be all right and there’ll be others that are on the injury list that will be back.”
Tadhg Beirne has also missed Munster’s recent games, and was wearing a knee brace on Saturday. McMillan said the brace was precautionary but described the Ireland international as probably “touch and go” to feature in the quarter-finals.
Beirne was one of a host of key players Munster were missing for the Lions, before they lost Crowley, Alex Nankivell and Fineen Wycherley from the named starting team.
Yet there were a host of big performances on an important night for the province. Casey was superb on his first start leading Munster as captain in Thomond Park, while Mike Haley, Jack O’Donoghue, Tom Ahern and Sean O’Brien all had big involvements. Niall Scannell and John Ryan also had an impact on their home farewell.
In the pack, young homegrown forwards Brian Gleeson and Evan O’Connell were outstanding, with O’Connell a late addition to the starting team as he made just his second start of the season.
“It’s brilliant. People have probably been asking those questions over the last five or six weeks,” McMillan said.
“We would have had some rotation earlier on in the year and as you progress, as most teams do, you start to get a little bit more rhythm in your team because the games count for a lot more.
“But you just know at some stage that injuries or sickness is going to come. It happens to every team. It’s been unfortunate that it’s hit us at the back end of the season when we’ve actually enjoyed a pretty good run but it’s nights like tonight that make you really proud.
Someone like Evan, for example, he’s got a high ceiling, high potential. He’s had to sit behind some other guys for a long part of the season but he’s stepped up well. He didn’t let anyone down.
“The last lineout of the game, a pretty important one, he’s at the back. He’s brave enough to call himself. He could have taken an easier ball but those sorts of things, you really build off that. And there were others that really stood out. Seán O’Brien, another one who’s moonlighted between wing and midfield but he’s one of the best players on the park tonight.”
As the questions were put to McMillan, Casey twice jumped in to highlight the contributions of Tom Ahern and JJ Hanarahan.
“I think JJ is someone that has copped a lot of flak from a lot of people over the last, I don’t know how long,” Casey said.
“How calm he was, how he drove us around the pitch tonight was absolutely outstanding, and I hope he showed up a few people to be honest, because he’s someone that holds a lot of respect in our group, and I thought he did an unbelievable job. So, yeah, hopefully, proves a few doubters wrong there.
“I think Tom Ahern probably won’t get the credit as well,” he added.
“I think he did a fantastic job on coming in and calling the lineout. I didn’t mention him outside and I probably should have.
“I think the job that he’s done over the last two days with Fineen going down with an eye injury, I think he was outstanding. And then Evan obviously jumping in when Tom went down, I think two unbelievable characters there for us and they showed a lot of leadership between them.
“And also a point on Gordon Wood, making his debut, he probably found out four minutes before we went out to kick-off. He’s been really, really impressive. He’s bought his time, he’s been injured but he is really a quality operator. So yeah, shout out to all those boys.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
4 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Casey: 'There has been a lot thrown at us as a club, it is sad'
MUNSTER REMAIN ALIVE in the URC, and perhaps more importantly, the province will once again be a Champions Cup team next season.
The implications of that are huge. Not just in terms of status for such a storied rugby club, but also financially. An organisation already dealing with financial issues don’t need to be missing out on Champions Cup money in their current situation, and nobody in Thomond Park on Saturday needed to be reminded of that.
There were already nerves floating around the ground before kick-off, which only heightened as Jack Crowley was confirmed as a late withdrawal from the team. Munster themselves looked nervous in the opening minutes before turning in a gritty performance to seal a hard-earned win over the Lions and move from ninth to fifth in the URC table, booking their spot in the quarter-finals.
The result bookmarked a testing couple of months for the province, with the Roger Randle situation unfolding as Munster staff dealt with news of redundancies coming down the line. Last week, Munster commissioned an independent governance and organisational review to assess “the organisation’s governance, leadership, culture and communications structures”.
All of this as disappointing results saw Munster exit the Champions Cup in the pool stages, drop out of the Challenge Cup at the first hurdle and slide down the URC table.
Add it all up and imagine the pressure that can weigh on players’ shoulders. Some haven’t been happy with elements of the media coverage around Munster. Others might pay less attention to outside commentary, but the internal challenges have been impossible to ignore.
By qualifying for next season’s Champions Cup Munster’s players have eased some of the burden on the organisation’s finances, and that fed into the evident feeling of relief following the 24-17 win.
When interviewed on the pitch post-game, Munster captain Craig Casey was sure to mention the staff worrying about their jobs. Later in the night, he expanded on the point as he joined Clayton McMillan for the post-match press conference.
“It’s definitely not something we talked about all week but I think it’s something we have mentioned over the last few weeks,” Casey said.
“Look, there has been a lot thrown at us as a club, and it is sad.
“It’s built on Champions Cup rugby and whatever bit of cash that the Champions Cup can bring in might help those people. So it’s definitely been motivation in the background. We’ve chatted about it once or twice.
“I did mention it outside though (during the on-pitch interview). I’m very proud of how the group have handled that. How we’ve stuck together, including the coaching staff and everyone in our circle.
“I think it’s been excellent and we know we’re a resilient group but I suppose when it goes past rugby itself you see real character within the group and I’m very proud of the boys for that.”
Munster boss McMillan was also proud of a performance which booked a URC quarter-final trip to face the Bulls on 30 May.
“It’s not a place that we fear going to,” McMillan said.
“It’s obviously a little bit arduous to jump on a plane and get over there, but once you’re there the conditions are generally good and the boys have played fairly well there a couple of months ago.
“The toughest thing is to get to finals. There are a lot of good teams that, their season’s over, you know, and we’ve earned another week and when you get to finals, there’s no points at stake, it’s just win the game. So there’s eight teams that all have a chance and we’ll go and throw the kitchen sink at them.”
Munster will hope to have Crowley available in Pretoria, as the out-half continues to struggle with a neural leg issue.
The 26-year-old had missed Munster’s previous two games with the injury and was in line to start on Saturday before dropping out before kick-off.
“It’s obviously a bit of a concern because it’s a recurring injury,” McMillan admitted.
“Just that no one’s really able to get a handle on exactly what’s going on. He would have had a pretty decent week of training. We had a good hit out here on Thursday, training here and he took a full part in that and no dramas. And then just got to today and again the neural stuff just kick in.
“So look, it’s way above my station what’s going on with his body but I’m sure it will come right. We’ve got a two week lead-in to the Bulls so I’d be reasonably confident that he’d be all right and there’ll be others that are on the injury list that will be back.”
Tadhg Beirne has also missed Munster’s recent games, and was wearing a knee brace on Saturday. McMillan said the brace was precautionary but described the Ireland international as probably “touch and go” to feature in the quarter-finals.
Beirne was one of a host of key players Munster were missing for the Lions, before they lost Crowley, Alex Nankivell and Fineen Wycherley from the named starting team.
Yet there were a host of big performances on an important night for the province. Casey was superb on his first start leading Munster as captain in Thomond Park, while Mike Haley, Jack O’Donoghue, Tom Ahern and Sean O’Brien all had big involvements. Niall Scannell and John Ryan also had an impact on their home farewell.
In the pack, young homegrown forwards Brian Gleeson and Evan O’Connell were outstanding, with O’Connell a late addition to the starting team as he made just his second start of the season.
“It’s brilliant. People have probably been asking those questions over the last five or six weeks,” McMillan said.
“We would have had some rotation earlier on in the year and as you progress, as most teams do, you start to get a little bit more rhythm in your team because the games count for a lot more.
“But you just know at some stage that injuries or sickness is going to come. It happens to every team. It’s been unfortunate that it’s hit us at the back end of the season when we’ve actually enjoyed a pretty good run but it’s nights like tonight that make you really proud.
“The last lineout of the game, a pretty important one, he’s at the back. He’s brave enough to call himself. He could have taken an easier ball but those sorts of things, you really build off that. And there were others that really stood out. Seán O’Brien, another one who’s moonlighted between wing and midfield but he’s one of the best players on the park tonight.”
As the questions were put to McMillan, Casey twice jumped in to highlight the contributions of Tom Ahern and JJ Hanarahan.
“I think JJ is someone that has copped a lot of flak from a lot of people over the last, I don’t know how long,” Casey said.
“How calm he was, how he drove us around the pitch tonight was absolutely outstanding, and I hope he showed up a few people to be honest, because he’s someone that holds a lot of respect in our group, and I thought he did an unbelievable job. So, yeah, hopefully, proves a few doubters wrong there.
“I think Tom Ahern probably won’t get the credit as well,” he added.
“I think he did a fantastic job on coming in and calling the lineout. I didn’t mention him outside and I probably should have.
“I think the job that he’s done over the last two days with Fineen going down with an eye injury, I think he was outstanding. And then Evan obviously jumping in when Tom went down, I think two unbelievable characters there for us and they showed a lot of leadership between them.
“And also a point on Gordon Wood, making his debut, he probably found out four minutes before we went out to kick-off. He’s been really, really impressive. He’s bought his time, he’s been injured but he is really a quality operator. So yeah, shout out to all those boys.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Clayton McMillan craig casey Munster Pressure Rugby