There’s going to be a Munster surge in the next two years
As Leinster and Munster joust at the Aviva, Racing Metro travel across the French capital for a pivotal Top 14 meeting with our city neighbours, Stade Francais, at the Stade Jean Bouin.
Irish eyes may already be straying towards next week’s Heineken Cup quarter-finals, but as the French Top 14 turns the final bend of a marathon 26-game season — not including the play-offs — the blinkers are on in the quest for a top-six spot. Stade are fifth, we’re seventh, and Toulouse are the meat in the Parisien baguette.
Whatever about the volume and intensity of the task awaiting Toulouse at Thomond Park tomorrow week, Guy Noves’ squad won’t lack for quality preparation. They’ve been away to Stade (a thrilling 27-27 draw) and this weekend head to Toulon before switching their focus to Limerick.
Toulon won’t be undercooked either as they welcome Leinster. They were away to Clermont before tomorrow’s visit of Toulouse to the Stade Felix Mayol. Noves will rest Gael Fickou, Maxime Medard and Yoann Maestri this weekend with Munster in mind, but when you see the replacements they brought on against Stade Francais, it underlines the serious nature of Munster’s task.
However, Luke McAlister looks a big doubt for Limerick. His presence alone makes the game 50-50. Just back from injury against Stade, he electrified the Stade de France within 40 seconds. In his own half, hard off his left foot, and he was gone 50m up the field. Incredible. The difference quality makes in pivotal positions. Sadly, he struggled off after 13 minutes with a back problem.
While a lot of the Irish players have had time off since the Six Nations, the French players at clubs like Toulouse have been straight back into the Top 14. While the Irish provinces gear up for a new psychological plateau next week in Europe, for the French clubs it’s been bang, bang, bang since the Six Nations finished.
In Ireland, the coaches of the three provinces have been planning for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals for the last 12 weeks. In France, they are going literally game to game.
While exhaustion won’t be an issue for another month in France, the emphasis on the bouclier is unreal. Europe can wait. Matt O’Connor and Rob Penney have their own houses to mind. It’s been presented this week in some quarters that Penney has had a little too much to say about his neighbours. I’m sure he’s been surprised at the reaction to his comments about “playing the Six Nations champions”. The actual context was a light moment a few weeks ago, but that gets lost in the noise.
At that stage the whole country was in Six Nations mode and he was simply referring to the impressive number of Leinster players in the Irish set-up. Leinster have kept their mouth shut and said nothing, so maybe it’s advantage them in terms of the psychology. But the reality is that what Penney said is correct.
Where are we now in terms of the respective phases of the Leinster and Munster’s development?
We dominated for nine years in my time, and for the last five years, Leinster have come back strong. But it’s such a different context now. When I started, it was 500 people in Dooradoyle. Now Leinster-Munster is a monster. When I came into the team, did I expect to win Heineken Cups? No I didn’t, because there was a different culture back then.
Nowadays when you come into that Munster squad, do you expect to win it? Yes you do. The day that goes is the day you may as well pack it in. There is going to be an explosion in Munster in the next 24 months. I know the players. But more importantly I know the people who are those players. They won’t settle for second best, certainly not in Ireland. Whether Europe will be conquered in the next two years is arguable, but Ireland will be.
Undoubtedly, Ireland’s rugby tide has turned blue. It did that April Saturday in 2009 in Croke Park. Remember the first 10 minutes, when we had two opportunities to score tries? If we went one or two scores up on Leinster that day... but if you don’t take your chances, you give up momentum. Leinster had so many years of anger built up — and I can see that in Munster now, the fact that they’ve had three or four years of it. There’s too much pride in that dressing room not to react.
And Penney’s departure at the end of the season won’t interrupt that. Munster is a special case. For starters, you have a player like no other in Paul O’Connell. When you know a fella like I know him, you can speak very competently about what he brings to a dressing room.
Look at the way the match went against Harlequins in last year’s Heineken Cup at The Stoop. How did we play tactically that day? It would be very hard to define that game plan, except to say we played smart, cup rugby at the right times in the right areas of the pitch.
So it wasn’t anyone’s style, per se. The coach can bring a style, but what’s important is making the right decisions at the right times. That’s instinct, and I hope it stays that way because you don’t ever want your players to be robotic. Particularly in the pivotal positions, like No 10.
Simon Zebo is unlikely to be labelled a robot any time soon. He handled himself very well this week with the media. I’m sure the journalists were hoping he’d take the bait and have a go off Joe Schmidt but he kept his counsel. I hope his performance tomorrow illustrates why he will be the best winger in Europe in two or three years’ time.
By Monday morning, it may be done and everyone’s in Heineken Cup mode. But tomorrow, remember these are proud rugby players and they’ll want to get the better of the man who’s nearest the Irish jersey. At the minute, that’s Leinster players, and rightly so for what they’ve done in the last three or four years.
