Saturday, January 17, 2009
IT’S official. Munster’s emphatic bonus-point win against Sale Sharks last night means that they have now qualified for the quarter final of the Heineken Cup — despite seeing Clermont also claim a bonus point against Montauban — for an unprecedented eleventh successive season.
With question marks hanging over the squad after those poor performances over Christmas against Connacht and especially Ulster, Munster closed ranks and addressed the issues. The result? A performance last night that will have the rest of Europe quaking in their boots. The message has gone out — write us off at your peril.
For new coach Tony McGahan, this was his finest hour. All season he has worked with his backroom team to give Munster a better balance to their game, especially with ball in hand.
For a variety of reasons, Munster have struggled at times to execute what they practice in training, often being in too much of a rush to expand their game. However, to score six tries against a team with the meanest defence in the Guinness Premiership is a clear vindication of what McGahan is striving for.
Munster’s second-half performance in outscoring Sale by 25-8 at Thomond Park last night was the stuff of champions. The interplay between backs and forwards was a joy to behold and in the end the final whistle just couldn’t come quick enough for the visitors.
By the time Paul Warwick crossed unopposed for the final try, Sale were a shambolic mess. The scars of this defeat were evident in the way they trooped dejectedly off the pitch.
The foundation for the win was laid up front where Sale were simply blown away. In rugby, hunger is the great intangible. Last night, Munster had it in spades. By comparison, feted internationals like Sebastian Chabal and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe were simply marked absent.
Of course, a group like this collection of Munster players will always strive for improvement and a worry for McGahan will be a recurrence of Munster’s indiscipline in that first half with a concession of eight penalties — many within kicking range. It was fortunate that the hapless Charlie Hodgson, who had a shocker, left his kicking boots at home.
The major plus for the European champions, apart from the result, was the incredible impact of the returning Denis Leamy who lasted all of 70 minutes. He and David Wallace created all kinds of problems for a Sale defence that simply crumbled.
Munster’s kicking game was also far superior, and in this context the presence of Warwick along with Ronan O’Gara — who must surely be the Lions test out-half — and Tomás O’Leary open up all kinds of possibilities going forward in this tournament.
But every successful side needs a focal point or talisman to follow. In Paul O’Connell, Munster have a leader of exceptional quality. In 2005, the Lions prematurely attempted to cast the budding second row star into the vacuum left by the retirement of Martin Johnson. It was too early in his development for such responsibility.
But recent evidence suggests that O’Connell now possesses the necessary nous and leadership to lead the Lions in South Africa this summer. Last night his presence in all phases — ball carrier, defence and set pieces — was exemplary, offering himself in a manner that colleagues were compelled to follow.
Over the years, Munster’s qualification has so often gone to the wire in the last game that Houdini acts are often called for. To qualify from a pool of this quality and in particular with a star-studded Clermont team biting at your heels says everything about the quality and desire for success in this squad. The target now must be to travel to Montauban and fight for the all-important home quarter-final draw.
Montauban were on the receiving end of a hiding last night in Clermont, and with no further interest in the competition, one could be fooled into thinking they won’t show up next weekend.
However, the fact that they are still without a victory in their debut season, and will entertain the European champions in their final fixture, indicates that this is a fixture Munster will have to be mentally attuned to.
A bonus-point victory for McGahan’s men is well within their compass, and after last night’s show of defiance, none of the remaining sides left in the Heineken Cup would want to travel to Limerick for a quarter-final.
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