Munster must pummel Quins in the tight
ON three previous European occasions, Harlequins travelled to Limerick with the aim of bursting Munster’s bubble, but left defeated and deflated.
Once again they arrive today with high hopes of causing an upset, confident in their ability to score tries and to ask questions of Munster’s defence. However, the key to success at Thomond Park is to win the physical battle. That is the one area where Conor O’Shea’s side could be found wanting.
Munster’s only area of concern in a recent run of nine consecutive competitive victories has been the scrum, which was put under a lot of pressure by Brive and the Ospreys.
While Harlequins are strong in the back row, excellent at half-back and have some very exciting three-quarters, their front five is relatively lightweight and inexperienced. Munster will target that potential weakness and exploit it.
It is no coincidence that the only side to win in Limerick in 16 seasons of European competition was Leicester, who had a bruising pack at the time.
Munster will seek to physically pummel Harlequins in the tight and will use their maul to good effect.
While the back three of Felix Jones, Doug Howlett and Keith Earls have been on fire lately, Munster will be reluctant to facilitate Harlequins’ running game from the outset and should seek to inflict some pain up front first. That will enable Munster’s fliers to run at the likes of Ugo Monye and Mike Brown on their terms and give them a taste of their own medicine.
HARLEQUINS’ game plan revolves around producing quick ball at the breakdown. They love nothing better than a loose, unstructured game which allows them to play to the strengths of Monye, Brown, a good young midfield pairing in Jordan Turner Hall and George Lowe, along with the darting runs of scrum-half Danny Care.
Will Skinner is a much under-rated open side, brilliant on the deck and is a very good link player. Any combination including him along with Nick Easter and either Chris Robshaw or Maurie Fa’asavalu in the back row spells trouble and will need to be curbed. They need to be otherwise engaged, coping with the threat posed by David Wallace and Denis Leamy. That is why Munster must frustrate them at the breakdown and force them to commit more numbers to secure that vital quick ball.
Munster were excellent in Swansea last weekend when they flooded the breakdown area and counter-rucked magnificently. It frustrated the Ospreys big time as they were primed to run. It’s crucial Munster repeat the dose today and dictate matters up front.
If they achieve that then Harlequins will struggle to cope.
However, if they allow themselves to be sucked into a loose, running game, Munster will play into the hands of the visitors.
SUCH has been Ronan O’Gara’s influence on Munster this season that I have been forced on more than one occasion to speculate how will Munster cope when he eventually departs. Despite 13 years on the frontline, his influence has seldom been more pronounced. It is a measure of his confidence and proficiency that, regardless of who is at scrum half, he has been masterful.
Today he faces Nick Evans who would undoubtedly be the World Cup understudy to Dan Carter for New Zealand had he decided to return home. He is the most complete out half in the Aviva Premiership and he has formed a wonderful and productive half back partnership with England’s Danny Care. If allowed too much scope, they pose problems for Munster.
Evans mixes his game magnificently and will relish the opportunity of playing at Thomond Park. He is also a very dangerous broken field runner and needs to be tied into more mundane defensive duties by the Munster back row. Today offers Murray a further opportunity to showcase his talents against a quality pair of half backs but he has passed every test thus far with flying colours. Big, fast and strong he also has the ability to shift the pressure off O’Gara with one of his searing breaks.
Despite the quality on show from Quins in this key sector, the Munster pairing have the tactical nous to guide their team into another final.
