Donal Lenihan: Spotlight firmly on Johann van Graan as predictable Munster fail to surprise or inspire

PLENTY TO PROVE: Next month marks the third anniversary of Johann van Graan’s arrival as Munster head coach but the jury remains out on the South African, writes Donal Lenihan. Picture: Inpho/Oisin Keniry

Just as well Munster operate behind closed doors at the moment. Watching them should carry a government health warning. If the danger of attracting Covid doesn’t stress you enough, the sheer frustration generated by the way Munster go about their business could prove equally damaging.

While the players were entitled to celebrate as if they had won the Guinness PRO14 itself on the opening day of action when a cool and calm Ben Healy slotted from 51m to grab a last-gasp win, Munster really need to have a good look at themselves to assess why they were in that position in the first place.

To win a game, away from home, when trailing by 14 points with 11 minutes left, says everything about the character of the side. Nothing new there. We know Munster will always fight to the death, despite the circumstances they find themselves in, and will never throw in the towel. That’s a given.

The frustration comes from the fact that it was only when they found themselves in that position that they started to play. Why wait until you’re 14 points down before playing to your strengths? This is not new. The same thing happened in Munster’s first game back, post-lockdown, against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium. On that occasion, 24-13 behind heading into the final quarter, Munster opened up and played to the experience and quality they have out wide.

Their reward, two superb tries from Keith Earls and Andrew Conway, presenting JJ Hanrahan with a kick to plunder an unlikely draw. Hanrahan’s difficult touchline conversion came up short but Munster, with three tries from their international wingers, matched Leinster on that front. Two weeks later, in the Pro14 semi-final against the same opposition, Munster reverted to type, kicked the leather off the ball, and returned a miserly three points.

Saturday’s opening game of the new PRO14 campaign, admittedly played in testing conditions, represented a new beginning. Yet the same shortcomings were there for all to see. When Chris Farrell scored Munster’s second try on 68 minutes, it was the first time he touched the ball in the second half.

Damian de Allende was brought in to give more punch and width to Munster’s attacking game. The Springbok World Cup winner has a varied skill set and can play in a variety of ways. Packing down on the side of the scrum after Peter O’Mahony was sent off is hardly what he signed up for. Munster’s indiscipline proved costly throughout, with their captain one of the main culprits.

De Allende has all the physical attributes one associates with a South African centre and offers a clear target for Munster to build momentum over the gain line off set pieces. He has a strong passing game off both hands, a decent kicking game, and tactical appreciation that sees him comfortable making the right decisions in heavy traffic.

His midfield partnership with Farrell offers huge possibilities. Yet De Allende’s only contribution in attack in the opening half was in providing the scoring pass for Jack O’Donoghue’s opening try. No surprise that this opportunistic score came courtesy of an instinctive piece of counter-attacking from Mike Haley, Andrew Conway, and De Allende off a loose Scarlets kick.

It remains a mystery why Munster fail to maximise the obvious threat they now have in midfield. Instead, the centres spend most of their time chasing kicks. That pairing has so much more to offer but needs to be played into the game in order to make more of an impact. The opposition midfield must be thanking their lucky stars that Munster choose to play behind them rather than through or around them.

It says everything that, despite outscoring the opposition by three tries to nil, Munster still had to rely on a rookie out-half to bail them out with his nerveless kick at the death. Johann van Graan has been slow to invest in Healy over the last 18 months despite injuries to Joey Carbery, Tyler Bleyendaal, and Hanrahan.

The one thing we know about the young No 10, from his days captaining Glenstal to a historic first-ever Munster Senior Schools Cup win in 2018, is that he has the temperament to perform under pressure.

He was dropped in at the deep end last Saturday and, despite having a nervy start when he failed to find touch from a penalty and conceded one for another three-pointer from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny, he didn’t allow it impact on his performance.

A difficult conversion of Kevin O’Byrne’s try, and that penalty at the death, offer further evidence that he has brought that cool head into the professional game. Healy has a distance to travel yet to command the starting No 10 jersey for Munster but the only way he can improve is by regular exposure to this level of rugby. The same applies to a promising crop of players in the Munster academy and development ranks at present.

Anyone who has watched Craig Casey play scrum-half for the Ireland U20 side under Noel McNamara will be aware that he is a real bundle of energy, capable of impacting a game with the quality of his passing, his ability to put the opposition back row under pressure from broken play, and to lift the tempo with the infectious manner he plays with. By comparison, he was somewhat subdued in this outing.

To see him box kick from a Munster line out, on the Scarlets 22, 10 minutes into the game, is proof positive that the Munster nines are playing to instruction. In the past, Munster have used this ploy when the opposition winger has moved off his wing for defensive reasons. Quite why Munster choose to gamble on surrendering possession, as they did on this occasion despite the fact Scarlets winger Steff Evans was covering the space and gathered with ease, is baffling.

So many teams, including Munster, place so much stock on getting a foothold in the opposition 22 and staying there until they score which makes it even more difficult to rationalise what was behind the decision to kick on that occasion.

Johann Van Graan. Picture: Inpho/Dan Sheridan

The spotlight is now firmly on Johann van Graan and, to a lesser degree, Stephen Larkham and Graham Rowntree. Next month marks the third anniversary of the head coach’s arrival in the province. His first season at the helm was compromised by coming in halfway through as a replacement for fellow countryman Rassie Erasmus.

His second was complicated by having all his leading players away on international duty for the opening four months in the build up to the World Cup and at the event itself in Japan. The global pandemic has meant the coaches have enjoyed unfettered access to the players, without international distractions, since last June.

Yet the evidence of any appreciable change in the way Munster are going about their business has been difficult to identify in the four games played to date. The fact that Andy Farrell is heading into a very demanding six-match international programme between October 24 and December 5 means Munster will have no choice but to place more trust in the younger brigade.

During that period, Munster face Cardiff Blues, Dragons, Benetton, Ospreys, Glasgow Warriors and Zebre in the Pro14. With the exception of the Scots, none of those teams have set the world alight in this tournament in recent times.

With a measured integration of some of the younger players with more seasoned campaigners, Munster can still achieve the goal of blooding exciting emerging talent while still winning games. Leo Cullen has been exceptional in achieving those twin objectives with Leinster over the last few seasons.

While it was satisfying for Munster to win in the manner they did at Parc Y Scarlets last weekend, the shortcomings in the performance can’t be swept under the carpet because of the result. Would Munster have prevailed against Racing 92, Exeter Chiefs, Leinster, or Toulouse with that performance? Not a chance.

For that gap to close, Munster must alter the way they play and become less predictable. Otherwise, they will suffer the same fate at the penultimate stage of the big tournaments — if they progress that far — as has been the case for some time now.

That is purely a function of coaching.