Munster will prove a true test of how far Ulster have come
Munster are not unbeatable, even if they have a 100% record in the group after demolishing Northampton on Saturday.
It’s mostly to do with the Thomond Park factor and Ulster’s relative inexperience at this stage of the competition. Amazingly, Munster have lost only once in the competition at the venue while Ulster have a poor record in Europe since their victory in 1999. They didn’t get as far as the quarter-finals again until last season, when losing out to Northampton.
That reality is not lost on David Humphreys, the former Ireland out-half and now Ulster’s Director of Rugby.
“We compare ourselves, week in, week out, to what Munster and Leinster have done,” he said. “We sometimes forget — and something our supporters also forget — is that they are two of the best teams in Europe. Closing that gap doesn’t happen overnight. We aren’t there yet.”
Much of the credit (not that some in the IRFU would acknowledge) is due to the influx of foreign players and Humphreys, a man admired and respected in Irish rugby, has chosen well in the case of several South Africans.
“If you bring in international players, you want them to have a huge impact on and off the pitch,” Humphreys reasoned.
“The foreign players we have brought in have been top quality, and top quality people as well. So, things are improving but we’re aware that there’s an awful long way to go to be able to compare ourselves with Munster and Leinster.”
Humphreys gets the chance to find out where they stand at Thomond Park. They easily beat an understrength Munster side in a recent Pro12 game at Ravenhill and looked a formidable force demolishing Leicester. They also stood up well to Clermont Auvergne at the weekend in the hostile environment of Stade Michelin. The challenge is to prove they can do it on the biggest days of all as both Munster and Ulster would fancy their chances in a subsequent Aviva Stadium semi-final against Edinburgh or Toulouse.
You’d probably put your house on Leinster to dispose of Cardiff Blues in the quarter-finals but it will be a different matter when they travel to Clermont or Saracens in the last four.
You just wonder did Declan Kidney run the eye over Peter Stringer on Sunday as the little maestro turned in the kind of virtuoso performance for Saracens that established him as one of the great scrum-halves of the last 15 years.
His passing from the base of the scrum was sublime, he got to every breakdown like a flash and picked and passed without taking the semblance of a step.
Meanwhile another Munster great, Michael Bradley, was elated after guiding Edinburgh to a bonus try victory over London Irish at Murrayfield. The Scots have come up with a series of remarkable results through the group stages and can look forward to a home quarter-final against the aristocrats of European rugby, Toulouse.
At first glance, it may seem a bridge too far but Toulouse didn’t look quite the force of old in recent weeks.
The pool stages have done a huge amount of good for Bradley’s reputation after his difficult spell at Connacht. Some day he is likely to come back home and maybe Munster could come calling.
