MUNSTER’S FORMULA IN reaching this Champions Cup semi-final against Saracens at the Aviva Stadium [KO 3.15pm, BT Sport] has been a superbly successful one, but Rassie Erasmus knows it won’t work again today.
The South African director of rugby has been realistic about the challenge since his side were drawn against the reigning champions – Munster will have to deliver the kind of performance that they haven’t so far under his watch.
“We’re playing a team where if we just play like we always play we’ll definitely lose the game because their tactics are definitely much different to Toulouse and Racing and all the other teams we’ve played in Europe,” said Erasmus yesterday.
“They’ve got a more totally complete game, you can’t say like in the old days that Saracens just suffocated and strangled you.
“Now they’ve got a great attacking game and individuals who can score tries from everywhere. So we’ve had to make a few other plans. Hopefully it will work, but if we went in with the same plan we wouldn’t have had a chance in this game.”
To his credit, Erasmus always tries to get straight to the point and he’s not wrong in this instance.
Munster showed grit to advance past Toulouse in the quarter-finals but a repeat of that performance today and Saracens will be heading to the final on 13 May looking to retain their European crown.
Not that the southern province aren’t capable of taking that step up, but this does represent a leap into the unknown for what remains a developing group of players.
“I guess playing Saracens makes it even more special because after this we’ll know exactly how far we’ve grown in the last 10 months, because that’s what we want to know,” said Erasmus.
“We want to know where we have to go, what do we have potential-wise, how do we handle situations like this, how do we handle stages like this? So that’s the great thing about it and then on the other side we’re really nervous.
“There’s a lot of guys who haven’t played in this stage of the tournament and we’ll learn a lot about each other. And if you don’t enjoy it you’ll be in the changing room afterwards regretting it, so we’re going to enjoy it.”
Making life all the more difficult for Munster is the fact that they have not named key man Conor Murray to start as he continues to recover from nerve damage in his shoulder/neck area.
Duncan Williams is having a fine season, but Erasmus agreed that it was risky not to select a recognised replacement scrum-half on the Munster bench against Saracens, with Ian Keatley instead providing the cover.
Of course, there has been some speculation that Munster are pulling a fast one here and have planned late changes to their team before kick-off but even then it’s difficult to see Murray taking any part.
Nonetheless, this Munster team is made up of exciting parts. Tyler Bleyendaal has oozed class all season, CJ Stander is fit to carry hard once again, John Ryan has excelled at scrum time and Donnacha Ryan has been a man possessed in the second row.
Rory Scannell – assuming he comes through fit to start – and Jaco Taute have formed a rock-solid centre partnership and against Saracens’ clever screen plays, that midfield combination could be pivotal.
“Saracens are definitely a very good attacking side,” said Taute. “We’ve done our analysis, we know what we have to do to pressurise them and force them into mistakes, to contain them.
“They have quality players all over the park that can damage you from anywhere. It’s going to be a momentum battle, we have to stop them physically.
“We’ve got a few plans up our sleeve, like we always do.”
Taute’s mindset usually tells a lot about Munster on the pitch and his words are instructive here too. Saracens are superb at building pressure on their opponents with the variety of their attacking game and a world-class kick chase, but Munster are also masters at it.
They will look to get in Saracens’ faces like no other side has done this season. Jacques Nienaber’s defence will continue to hammer up at speed in a bid to fracture the slick organisation in the English side’s attack.
Peter O’Mahony and Ryan will lead the competition at lineout time against George Kruis and Maro Itoje, while Simon Zebo will look to marshal the backfield and initiate Munster’s counter-attack.
Dave Kilcoyne and Stander will lead the charge with ball in hand, while Andrew Conway and Keith Earls will bring fierce heat in the aerial exchanges against Alex Goode, Chris Ashton and Sean Maitland.
Ryan will look to better Mako Vunipola at scrum time, as Tommy O’Donnell attempts to limit the rounded threat of Billy Vunipola. The match-up between Owen Farrell and Bleyendaal – two intelligent playmakers – is mouthwatering, while Williams and Richard Wigglesworth are both important kicking options.
And underpinning everything that Munster do will be a fierce desire to do Anthony Foley proud once again.
“The last game we played here [at the Aviva], where Anthony was in charge of the team, he was the head coach, it was the last time he was with us in the changing room and then the next week he passed away,” said Erasmus.
“I just know the private conversations we had after that loss against Leinster, I know what I would tell him and I know he would smile, but it wouldn’t be something I could say in front of you guys now.
“I just think he would be really proud, because the guys carry him in our hearts every day. We talk about him, he’s part of our daily training, and I think that would put a smile on his face and hopefully we can make him proud.”
Munster:
15. Simon Zebo
14. Andrew Conway
13. Jaco Taute
12. Rory Scannell
11. Keith Earls
10. Tyler Bleyendaal
9. Duncan Williams
1. Dave Kilcoyne
2. Niall Scannell
3. John Ryan
4. Donnacha Ryan
5. Billy Holland
6. Peter O’Mahony (captain)
7. Tommy O’Donnell
8. CJ Stander
Replacements:
16. Rhys Marshall
17. James Cronin
18. Stephen Archer
19. Dave O’Callaghan
20. Jean Deysel
21. Ian Keatley
22. Francis Saili
23. Darren Sweetnam
Saracens:
15. Alex Goode
14. Chris Ashton
13. Marcelo Bosch
12. Brad Barritt (captain)
11. Sean Maitland
10. Owen Farrell
9. Richard Wigglesworth
1. Mako Vunipola
2. Jamie George
3. Vincent Koch
4. Maro Itoje
5. George Kruis
6. Michael Rhodes
7. Jackson Wray
8. Billy Vunipola
Replacements:
16. Schalk Brits
17. Titi Lamositele
18. Petrus Du Plessis
19. Jim Hamilton
20. Schalk Burger
21. Ben Spencer
22. Alex Lozowski
23. Chris Wyles
Referee: Romain Poite [FFR].
