THE VISIT OF Edinburgh to Musgrave Park might not usually set Munster fans’ pulses racing, but tomorrow night’s Guinness Pro12 clash in Cork [KO 7.35pm, TG4] is of truly monstrous importance.
Seventh-placed Munster are in grave danger of slipping away from Champions Cup qualification as they prepare to face direct rivals Edinburgh, who currently sit in the sixth and final position that guarantees a spot in next season’s top-tier European competition.
Anthony Foley’s side have had just under a fortnight to lick their wounds after failing to pick up even a losing bonus point away to Connacht, and openside flanker Tommy O’Donnell says they need every supporter they can get at Musgrave Park tomorrow.
“There’s so much there to play for,” says the Ireland international. “It’s a crunch game.
“Sometimes when you play a team lower down the table, they might not come out. But because Europe is on the line, because the stakes are so high, in effect it’s like being in a group stage of a European Cup. That much is on the line. That’s one reason to come out.
“Obviously, there are two home games so even though it hasn’t been the best of seasons, it would be great to finish on a high with two wins to qualify for Europe again.”
O’Donnell is referring to the final regular season game of the campaign against Scarlets at Thomond Park on May 7, and it is some comfort to Foley’s men that they are attempting to secure their Champions Cup spot with home advantage behind them.
The Scarlets still have hopes of securing a semi-final spot, but more immediate for Munster is the need to beat Edinburgh, who showed hints of their ability in scoring three tries to garner a losing bonus point against Leinster two weekends ago.
Munster and Edinburgh have both won 11 games this season for a total of 53 match points, but the Scots have racked up a +51 points difference to Munster’s +18.
“At the moment, they’re ahead of us on points difference,” says O’Donnell. “They have what we want, so we need to go out with that mentality that at the moment they’re the ones that are ahead of us and we have to go out and attack them.
“In the last couple of weeks, we have played quite well, albeit in fits and starts. We have had both Connacht and Leinster in trouble for a while but we just weren’t consistent enough throughout the game.
“Without one or two little errors, and a little bit more game management, we could be sitting a lot better and we could be playing a lot better rugby.”
That’s been the mantra from Munster all season – that fine margins have been causing their defeats. Whether or not one believes that they have been that close in certain games they’ve lost, Munster will need all the little details to go their way tomorrow.
Echoing his captain CJ Stander, O’Donnell says Munster have been perhaps guilty of “knocking off for a second” at crucial points in important games, allowing the opposition to hammer home any advantage.
The Tipp man also states that Munster must be more mature in how they handle refereeing decisions going against them.
“Sometimes you need a deep breath, keep going and get on with it,” says O’Donnell. “We’ve been working on that the last couple of weeks and, hopefully, it will go our way the next couple of weeks.”
The focus of this week is Edinburgh, of course, but Monday provided something of a distraction for the players with the confirmation of Rassie Erasmus’ three-year contract as the province’s new director of rugby, beginning next season.
While O’Donnell was intent on not looking too far ahead, he did underline his confidence that Munster have a promising future. The 28-year-old is hopeful that the current group can ensure Erasmus will be leading the province into the Champions Cup next season.
“If everything goes well, the off-season becomes a natural start,” says O’Donnell. “Players move on, but there’s a great core of young players – Jack O’Donoghue, Rory Scannell, Niall Scannell – who have done fantastically well for inexperienced guys coming into this season. We will take great confidence from that.
“We will get to draw a line in the sand and you get a chance to go again. Once you start working on the fitness and when the players filter through from the Irish tours, hopefully, there will be a good vibe again and we’ll be ready to attack the season when it starts.
“I think the future will be bright.”
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