Ronan O'Gara: Time surely to shut up Munster’s past?
Chris Farrell during a recent training session for Munster. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
Cash-rich Montpellier kick off the new Top 14 season this evening at home to Pau. I may flick over the TV, but I can’t guarantee it.
Tonight is about Munster at Leinster at the Aviva Stadium. A win for the visitors in the Pro14 semi-final would be the biggest lift to the province in donkey’s years. And not just for the professional team. For everyone south of the Curragh who loves their rugby.
Not every thought is red. I wonder sometimes about Leinster too. Their age profile, that ‘middle tier’ demographic. Loads of experience and plenty of freshman talent. Not so sure in between. There are perceived Leinster strengths which could be weaknesses before they know it.
Or maybe I just wonder too much. Lockdowns and confinements can do that to you. Montpellier had a confirmed case Wednesday on its staff. They are now on tenterhooks. Have we a game or not? La Rochelle kick off our season at home to Toulon tomorrow. A first competitive game in six months, hopefully. 174 staff had nasal swabs Wednesday and yesterday. All good at the time of writing. But it’s on a knife edge. Life can be pretty empty when you don’t have that competitive edge to feed off.
Munster are getting a second nibble off Leinster in as many weeks. Plenty to be getting their teeth into. I’d love to hear what the current Munster lads say privately about tradition and carrying the mantle of previous teams. You can be certain they are sh*t sick of having the previous generation stirred into every debate and conversation. And they’re right.
I’m almost surprised someone hasn’t snapped and said ‘would those old geezers go and take a flying jump’ but because of the values of Munster rugby people, they won’t say what they’re thinking. Which is: please shut up and let us get on with being the best we can be.’ They have every right to think that.
But it’s the Munster supporters whose opinions they must change. The proper (not easy) way to do that is to get over the line against Leinster when it matters. It can be 3-0, or 38-36. The 12th-minute opening try that Andrew Conway finished against Leinster two weeks ago is something to be reflecting on. They could have scored a number of phases earlier if Damien de Allende had tipped to O’Donnell, who then goes in untouched. To see how narrow Leinster were, you are thinking: ‘Jeez, these Leinster lads aren’t untouchable after all'.
Larmour’s footwork? For sure. Under the high ball? Hmm, not so much.
Munster have used confinement to look in the mirror, surely. They have Murray, de Allende, Farrell, Earls, O’Mahony, Stander, Beirne, Conway etc etc. Quality everywhere and in depth when everyone is available. Leinster’s depth is plain for everyone to see. Sean Cronin and Ryan Baird will provide impact off the bench, but I am interested to see their impact if and when Leinster go into a final ten minutes trailing.
There’s a positive shift in Munster that's discernible. Even Graham Rowntree this week: Why wouldn’t we win? After too many years of Leinster superiority, there is a time when players say, enough of this. We experienced it in Croke Park in 2009. It is about not being the second province.
It’s time to shut up the past – but Munster’s players are the only ones who can do that.
Thankfully, since retirement, I’ve been able to move onto new things. The past is nice but let it there. There’s nothing more nauseating than listening to fellas bleat on about what they did 10-20 years ago. Put a label on a box, ‘In My Day’, stuff it in the attic and let’s talk about what you are doing once we can all get out of this cursed Covid bubble.
La Rochelle couldn’t play our final pre-season hit-out last Friday because a positive case in the Agen club. Given we were well beaten by Toulouse the previous week, one might think we are approaching the new campaign with trepidation. But seeing the first-team group and the new signings gelling has been really encouraging. Will Skelton, from Saracens to La Rochelle, may turn out to be one of the signings of the summer. Keep an eye too on a trimmer Ben Tameifuna at Bordeaux (from Racing 92), another one who has used confinement to his benefit, and Montpellier’s South African scrum-half Cobus Reinach, who has joined from Northampton.
On Tuesday, we got the news we were hoping for from the (local authority) that we can have Stade Deflandre at 50% capacity tomorrow against Toulon. That’s a crowd of 8,000 which equates to financially viable. One of the upsides of being close to the sea, I suppose. That was fantastic news and gave everyone at the club and in the town a huge lift.
Every ground, every case, will be individually assessed. So everything is on a bit of a knife-edge. There’s a climate of anxiety around the place with the question: how viable is professional rugby? The weekend’s Stade Francais-Bordeaux game is already gone due to Covid. Montpellier got the all clear last evening for Pau tonight.
Everyone is in uncharted waters. It’s a huge unknown how bodies will go for 80 minutes. We’ve done 70-minute contact sessions, but this is full-on, it will be 28 degrees tomorrow. You hope that lads aren’t cramping left, right and centre.
It feels like starting from zero again. How many seasons have I done in La Rochelle? Zero.
This is a key point. The learnings from a play-off game are huge and whether it’s the joy of lifting a trophy or the horrendous low of being knocked out, you can make definite measurements afterwards with some concrete evidence. But we were all left in that vacuum in March: We played 19 games but none of them truly counted in terms of definitive assessment. It’s not good.
Leinster, Munster and the other Pro14 semi-finalists are a few weeks ahead. It should be to Munster’s advantage tonight that they squared off against Leo Cullen’s men less than a fortnight ago. The champions have their frontliners primed but Munster must test their capacity to come from behind with the clock against them. They haven’t been there is quite a while. They’ve been that good, that untouchable to this point.
The lads from the down south ought to be cranky enough then.
