AND SO IT is that Munster have a singular focus for the rest of their season.
Time is running out to save this campaign.
The danger now is that it will be one that is remembered for all the wrong reasons.
Their Champions Cup campaign was not a happy one as Clayton McMillan’s men were hammered by Bath, recorded a bonus-point win against Gloucester, but then lost narrowly to both Toulon and Castres.
That the defeat by Castres in January came at Thomond Park made it all the more galling.
As a result, they dropped into the Challenge Cup for just the second time. But that potential avenue for a play-off run to a final in Bilbao in May was ended at the first step as Munster were beaten 31-21 by Exeter at Sandy Park on Saturday afternoon.
Another tricky challenge would have awaited in this weekend’s quarter-final, with Exeter now visiting Benetton, but Munster would obviously rather be alive in the competition.
All of this means that their season comes down to finishing the URC strongly.
Right now, Munster are seventh in the table, meaning they’re inside the top eight, which guarantees a quarter-final and, crucially, Champions Cup qualification. Amid the province’s financial challenges, missing out on the top-tier competition would be particularly damaging.
Munster have four regular-season games still to go. If they’re looking up, fourth-placed Leinster are only five match points ahead of them. A strong run now might see Munster nick a home quarter-final.
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Craig Casey after the loss to Exeter. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Indeed, as things stand, Munster could still win the URC. Few people fancied them when they did it in 2023.
But that feels like a distant possibility right now. Instead, the concern is just about holding onto their place in the top eight. Ninth-placed Connacht are only two match points behind Munster.
Munster’s next game in two weekends’ time is a visit to Benetton, who have disappointed this season and sit 12th, then they host third-placed Ulster at Thomond Park in a huge game.
After another break weekend, there’s a potentially even bigger inter-provincial clash for Munster as they head to Galway to take on play-off rivals Connacht.
McMillan’s men wrap up their regular season with a home clash against the Lions of South Africa in Thomond Park.
The pressure is on Munster to make sure they make the top eight and next season’s Champions Cup.
“There’s no way of beating around the bush with that,” said head coach McMillan.
“Our aspiration is not to try to sneak in there. It’s to get in there comfortably, and we know that the points table is congested and every team’s going to be feeling the same way that we are.
“It’s just going to come down to who can respond best. We’ve got two games at home, one down the road against Connacht, and obviously in our next game over at Benetton
“So none of them easy, but if we’re good enough, we’ll be there.”
The question is whether Munster will be good enough. Saturday’s loss to Exeter was their eighth loss in 10 games.
And some of those games have seen Munster well beaten, including at Sandy Park on Saturday. They rallied in the second half but the fact that they were losing 31-0 at half time was disastrous.
Tadhg Beirne leads Munster out at Sandy Park. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
It’s not the first time Munster have conceded such a big cluster of points in a flurry.
“I think the game is all around momentum,” said McMillan. “When you’ve got it, you want to keep your foot on the opposition’s throat. When you haven’t got it, it’s your ability to wrestle it back or at least to minimise the impact if the opposition have got that.
“We’ve got the answers within the group. It’s just in the moment, picking the right options and executing.
“I don’t think we have to find huge variations in our game to be able to narrow those margins. It’s not like it happens every day, but when it does, it hurts you.”
McMillan and his coaches will keep trying to give their players the answers to turn their form around and start getting some wins.
But captain Tadhg Beirne said it’s equally on Munster’s players to deliver more.
“The improvement has to happen from us,” said Beirne. “You can’t just keep leaning towards the coaches to fix up. The fix-ups are pretty simple from us, and it’s just about putting in better performances.
“We still have an opportunity of a trophy at the end of this season. It may look like a long, long way to a lot of people, but we have to focus on the next game first. Just focus on that, on that performance, and build from there.
“Because it’s easy to walk away here with our heads down, but that’s not what we’re about. Getting to the next job, the next game, we’re gonna have to dust our shoulders off and prove… like, we’ve done it before in the past, we just need to get on a good run.
“The team’s well capable of it. We just have to start proving it.”
'We still have an opportunity of a trophy' - Munster look to save season in URC
AND SO IT is that Munster have a singular focus for the rest of their season.
Time is running out to save this campaign.
The danger now is that it will be one that is remembered for all the wrong reasons.
Their Champions Cup campaign was not a happy one as Clayton McMillan’s men were hammered by Bath, recorded a bonus-point win against Gloucester, but then lost narrowly to both Toulon and Castres.
That the defeat by Castres in January came at Thomond Park made it all the more galling.
As a result, they dropped into the Challenge Cup for just the second time. But that potential avenue for a play-off run to a final in Bilbao in May was ended at the first step as Munster were beaten 31-21 by Exeter at Sandy Park on Saturday afternoon.
Another tricky challenge would have awaited in this weekend’s quarter-final, with Exeter now visiting Benetton, but Munster would obviously rather be alive in the competition.
All of this means that their season comes down to finishing the URC strongly.
Right now, Munster are seventh in the table, meaning they’re inside the top eight, which guarantees a quarter-final and, crucially, Champions Cup qualification. Amid the province’s financial challenges, missing out on the top-tier competition would be particularly damaging.
Munster have four regular-season games still to go. If they’re looking up, fourth-placed Leinster are only five match points ahead of them. A strong run now might see Munster nick a home quarter-final.
Indeed, as things stand, Munster could still win the URC. Few people fancied them when they did it in 2023.
But that feels like a distant possibility right now. Instead, the concern is just about holding onto their place in the top eight. Ninth-placed Connacht are only two match points behind Munster.
Munster’s next game in two weekends’ time is a visit to Benetton, who have disappointed this season and sit 12th, then they host third-placed Ulster at Thomond Park in a huge game.
After another break weekend, there’s a potentially even bigger inter-provincial clash for Munster as they head to Galway to take on play-off rivals Connacht.
McMillan’s men wrap up their regular season with a home clash against the Lions of South Africa in Thomond Park.
The pressure is on Munster to make sure they make the top eight and next season’s Champions Cup.
“There’s no way of beating around the bush with that,” said head coach McMillan.
“Our aspiration is not to try to sneak in there. It’s to get in there comfortably, and we know that the points table is congested and every team’s going to be feeling the same way that we are.
“It’s just going to come down to who can respond best. We’ve got two games at home, one down the road against Connacht, and obviously in our next game over at Benetton
“So none of them easy, but if we’re good enough, we’ll be there.”
The question is whether Munster will be good enough. Saturday’s loss to Exeter was their eighth loss in 10 games.
And some of those games have seen Munster well beaten, including at Sandy Park on Saturday. They rallied in the second half but the fact that they were losing 31-0 at half time was disastrous.
It’s not the first time Munster have conceded such a big cluster of points in a flurry.
“I think the game is all around momentum,” said McMillan. “When you’ve got it, you want to keep your foot on the opposition’s throat. When you haven’t got it, it’s your ability to wrestle it back or at least to minimise the impact if the opposition have got that.
“We’ve got the answers within the group. It’s just in the moment, picking the right options and executing.
“I don’t think we have to find huge variations in our game to be able to narrow those margins. It’s not like it happens every day, but when it does, it hurts you.”
McMillan and his coaches will keep trying to give their players the answers to turn their form around and start getting some wins.
But captain Tadhg Beirne said it’s equally on Munster’s players to deliver more.
“The improvement has to happen from us,” said Beirne. “You can’t just keep leaning towards the coaches to fix up. The fix-ups are pretty simple from us, and it’s just about putting in better performances.
“We still have an opportunity of a trophy at the end of this season. It may look like a long, long way to a lot of people, but we have to focus on the next game first. Just focus on that, on that performance, and build from there.
“Because it’s easy to walk away here with our heads down, but that’s not what we’re about. Getting to the next job, the next game, we’re gonna have to dust our shoulders off and prove… like, we’ve done it before in the past, we just need to get on a good run.
“The team’s well capable of it. We just have to start proving it.”
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Challenge Cup Champions Cup Clayton McMillan exeter Munster Sole Focus Tadhg Beirne URC