Ronan O'Gara: April, the month when stars come in and excuses run out
BACK IN RED: Joey Carbery in Munster training this week.
A picture on social media this week underlined rugby’s changing priorities at this time of year, from international to the club. One might ponder whether it was the costliest bench of replacements ever assembled in the Top 14, but Toulouse were having enough of bother dealing with Lyon to summon a quartet of France’s Grand Slam winners to secure an eventual 27-19 victory. Enter Antoine Dupont, Roman Ntamack, Francois Cros, and Julien Marchand in the 49th minute.
We are all in the same boat, if truth be told. Every coach likes to think he can make do without his frontline internationals but it’s fanciful nonsense. The question of whether to start them first game back post Six Nations or feed them back into the formation is a case-by-case scenario.
La Rochelle brought Jonathan Danty and Greg Alldritt on as replacements but we started Uini Atonio in Saturday’s war of attrition against Racing 92. The giant New Zealander is a cracking fella, a lover of Shakespeare and good grub, though not always in that order. Any idea that he would be afforded a gentle re-entry was obliterated by a veritable scrumfest, with 25 in all, including resets. When we replaced him on the hour, I could have sworn he mouthed something Shakespearean in my direction.
The trouble is, across Europe, clubs are down to the business end of their season and needs must now. We have five games left in the regular season. This weekend it’s derby day not just at home in Thomond Park but across France, in order to minimise unnecessary travel for the sides heading back into Europe next week. That means a 120-mile trip down the road to Bordeaux for us, second against fourth. For a lot of teams, there is a sense, with all the aces back in the pack, that suddenly it’s showtime. (Interestingly Saturday is the first of three consecutive games against Bordeaux-Begles, the latter two in the Champions Cup).
It might seem strange to say that the likes of Atonio, at 32, is only now blossoming into the tight head that he is, but he moved to France early from New Zealand, came up from the Pro D2 and this year’s Grand Slam with France is the first major honour he has won in his career. The positivity that he has brought back into the club, now that he has a taste for success, could be massive. The French players are super-charged with confidence and Greg Alldritt and Jonathan Danty made huge differences when they came on in the second half against Racing 92.
I’ve seen the bounce in a former life that a successful Six Nations with Ireland can mean when the players return to their provinces. It might only sustain for three or four weeks but the lift in standards is palpable, the increased energy levels are impossible to ignore. It’s not like the non-internationals are not putting in a shift, but you put an elite athlete into any environment and they will glow.
You’d be an idiot not to plug into that. Ourselves, Toulouse and the other sides from the Top 14 in Europe want to harvest and retain that joie de vivre for as long as we can to advance through the Champions Cup knockout phase and establish ourselves in the play offs for the Bouclier.
Five wins out of five in the Six Nations, everything seems so easy for those players, you play on autopilot and trust instinct. That’s France. What about the Ireland players returning to the four provinces? Every individual is different. What form will Joey Carbery be in going back into Munster’s camp after a frustrating Six Nations in terms of minutes.
You’re assuming he’s rightly ticked off though that pre-supposes he is not happy enough being number two. Only he can answer that with his attitude and performances.
Munster go into Saturday's game with Leinster at Thomond Park with the same goals and the expectation that Carbery, Murray, O’Mahony, Beirne et al, are going to stir the chemistry of the group in a positive way. Anyone seeing this URC game as a nice tee-up for the Champions Cup round of 16 isn’t getting where Munster are at right now. If I could argue that Saturday is, long-term, more important than the Exeter double-header, would you hear me out? Given Munster’s horrendous recent record in these derbies, I’d say take your scalps where you can get them. In the last sixteen meetings between the provinces, Munster have won three. Under the current management, Munster have won two and lost nine of the last eleven.
Only a fool or a blind man could confidently predict that Munster, right now, have the wherewithal to beat Leinster, Toulouse or even an Exeter in succession and triumph in Europe. It’s plainly unrealistic. I’m not throwing stones here – La Rochelle haven’t beaten Toulouse in our last five meetings either.
But if I asked could you foresee Leinster beating an Exeter, La Rochelle or Toulouse, you’d have no problem with it. The point is that Leinster are a different conversation to Munster right now. You’d want to be a dope not to accept that. And yet there are still Munster people in denial.
Does that mean Munster can’t beat Leinster? It does not. If they played ten times against Leinster, Munster would win three. Leinster are beatable and there are chinks there. They are an incredibly good team but they can be beaten with a power game.
If you stack up, as an example, Gibson-Park, Sexton, Henshaw and Ringrose against Murray, Carbery, de Allende and Farrell, would you say there’s a great advantage to either side? But beating Leinster tomorrow is a plus-point in so many ways – not least shifting the dynamic in the relationship and repurposing Munster’s goals.
Leinster are different gravy. Even when expectation is at its highest, they invariably produce, but as I said, there is a smart, powergame to beat them. It’s another opportunity on Saturday for Munster to spark the passion, to enhance the culture of the group. To launch an assault on Europe.
Stand up and fight until you hear the bell, Stand up and fight like hell.
It’s showtime.
