ONLY THREE MINUTES into Munster’s win over the Bulls, 19-year-old Cobh Pirates product Edwin Edogbo produced a turnover that evoked a roar from the Thomond Park faithful that better befit a try.
Indeed, it seemed that not only were Graham Rowntree’s men on the field energised by Munster’s returning Emerging Ireland contingent, but so too were the 12,000-plus supporters who braved the poor conditions to line the stands in Limerick.
On today’s Rugby Weekly Extra podcast for The42 members, Bernard Jackman and Ciarán Kennedy joined host Gavan Casey to discuss Munster’s potentially transformative win, as well as Leinster’s impressive victory over Connacht in Galway and Ulster’s barnburning success over the Lions in South Africa.
All three were especially impressed by the impact made by the southern province’s 19-year-old tighthead lock Edogbo against the Bulls, which led to a wider discussion about Munster’s up-and-comers and whether Rowntree should begin to lean on them more, even for fixtures such as Leinster at the Aviva Stadium this coming weekend.
After discussing Edogbo’s potential, Kennedy added: “These guys coming in — not just Edogbo, but these young players across the board — added so much. I know they’ve just come back from the Emerging Ireland tour but they just seemed to give the whole team a lift, the whole crowd a lift.
“Murray [Kinsella] made the comparison here the other week between Munster and Manchester United.
I think if Munster manage this season properly, they could turn the situation into almost more of an Arsenal/Mikel Arteta-type situation: you’ve got a new, relatively unproven coaching team learning on the job to some degree at one of the biggest clubs in Europe where they’re going to have to ride out a couple of sticky patches. But what Arsenal have shown over the last few years is that if you invest in youth, you will eventually see that kind of bond the club together again and pay off in the longer run.
“Nothing engages supporters more than young, homegrown talent”, Kennedy continued, “and supporters also tend to afford more patience to a project if young players are at the heart of it.
You could see it in the crowd’s reaction to the early Edogbo turnover: they weren’t just cheering the turnover, they were cheering the player who made it. You could sense it when Jack Crowley was getting on the ball or when Tom Ahern came in off the bench and went on a couple of rampaging runs.
“The Munster supporters are crying out for lads to get behind and if Ahern or Edogbo or Crowley or Pa Campbell — who missed out on the weekend — are getting opportunities, supporters are going to get right behind them. Maybe that’s the thing that can help to ignite Munster’s season and spark a bit of life into things again.
“And to be fair to Rowntree, I think he is keen to blood these guys. He wasn’t able to select them due to the Emerging Ireland tour. I think if a couple of young players look up to it, he’s going to back them and that’s the really exciting thing for Munster supporters at the moment.”
“Just on that”, former Connacht, Leinster and Ireland hooker Jackman replied, “I think Munster of all the provinces — or of all the rugby people that I’ve met in Ireland — they follow people, y’know what I mean?
“And if there has been a gap or a divide between Cork, Waterford, Limerick et cetera, if someone from their area makes it, they’ll come back. It’s better than a ‘hashtag Team of Us’ or any marketing campaign. I felt that as well watching the game back and hearing the crowd, and seeing these young players play with enthusiasm and no fear.
“There is talent down there, there really is. And for all the stuff about private schools in Dublin and things like that; sure, they finish them off early (making players pro-ready), but you just need one generation, four or five players to come through, and it changes the optics.
“Rowntree has been there for three years, he’s seen a conservative selection policy in action and it didn’t really bring them anywhere. And I think Prendy (Mike Prendergast) and Denis [Leamy] will be the same: they’ll want to give young players a chance.”
Asked how Munster should approach Saturday’s visit to URC leaders Leinster, who they’ve beaten just three times in the last 18 encounters (and just once in Dublin since 2015), Jackman said: “I think attack! This game could bring Munster’s attack on a long way.
“Either stuff they try works and they get massive confidence or Leinster are able to stop it and Munster are able to go, ‘Right, that’s why it didn’t work,’ and make it better the week after against Ulster.
“I do think at the moment that there’s a little bit of a doubt about Leinster’s defence. Think of Zebre in the second half, think of the Sharks obviously scoring over 30 points; now, I know the Sharks have some phenomenal individuals. But definitely, if you’re Prendy, he would have seen enough in that Zebre attack and the Sharks attack to get excited.
“And I think you have to go after it. If Munster go and box kick, or kick contestables, Leinster are generally pretty good in dealing with that. So, I think Munster have to fire shots.”
The full episode, in which Bernard Jackman, Ciarán Kennedy and Gavan Casey discuss the four provinces’ fortunes from the weekend and look ahead to Leinster-Munster this Saturday, is available for members of The42. To join us and receive twice-weekly episodes of our members-exclusive Rugby Weekly Extra podcast, visit members.the42.ie.
