Jury still out on improving Munster
Judgement is reserved on Munster’s prospects for a season about to turn serious in six days’ time with the visit of Harlequins to Thomond Park for the first round of the Heineken Cup.
There were positives to be taken from Saturday’s thrashing of Cardiff, most notably the ever-improving form of man of the match Christian Cullen, but there were just as many negatives.
Even though clearly upbeat at this third successive victory in the Celtic League that moves his side into the top four of the table, coach Alan Gaffney accepted “it was a debatable issue whether we should have been in front at half time.”
It was an acknowledgment that his side had turned in a mediocre 40 minutes during which they struggled for primary possession and made far too many unforced errors.
Scottish referee David Changleng has become a familiar figure in these parts of late and if he again frustrated the 8,000-strong home attendance with an inconsistent job of work, he was also one of the few in the ground who believed that Cullen had fairly grounded the ball for the first of his two tries.
Which is not to say the Kiwi isn’t edging ever closer to the form that made him a legend in the game in New Zealand. He has taken some time to gel with his new colleagues at Munster but the fulfilment of all of Gaffney’s hopes may now be only just around the corner.
“I thought Cully played very well although obviously the slippery conditions caused him to fumble a couple of balls in the first half,” said the coach.
“He tried to play an attacking game and I felt a lot of what he did was very good.
“He’s straightening all the time now; he’s very safe under the high ball. They put up a lot of that and he was in no danger. He’s creating opportunities. He’s reading a lot of things. He’s there now.”
If that’s the case, then the remedy to Munster’s lack of finishing power that has blighted their cause so often in the past may be at hand. He and Ronan O’Gara combined beautifully for his second try on the hour and the drop goal that he rifled between the sticks from 40 metres in the 68th minute was born of instinctive class.
There were signs, too, that Rob Henderson is returning to something like his best and he certainly was delighted to out-sprint the entire Cardiff three-quarter line to grab Munster’s fifth and final try.
O’Gara is growing sharper by the game, as his great drop goal winner in Glasgow and his all-round mastery on Saturday demonstrated.
Shaun Payne again demonstrated his versatility at second centre and although he picked up a knock on Saturday, he wasn’t concussed and is fit and well.
Furthermore, Gaffney is not ruling out a return to action on Saturday next by Donncha O’Callaghan.
His damaged calf will be assessed over the next couple of days, with the coach expressing the hope that he could be fit for Harlequins.
The coach may dismiss his embarrassment of riches in the back-row by claiming it’s a nice kind of problem to have.
But it’s a tough call to make when David Wallace’s only involvement on Saturday was as a summariser for RTÉ Radio and Alan Quinlan was used only as substitute for the last 15 minutes.
And yet the chosen trio of Jim Williams, Denis Leamy and Anthony Foley were powerful contributors to the second-half renaissance with the 35-year-old Aussie showing outstanding dexterity to reach the try line with his left hand when all options seemed to be closed off.
: C Cullen 2 tries, drop goal; J Williams, P Devlin, R Henderson tries. R O’Gara 5 pens, 2 cons; P Burke con.
: C Quinnell, Kort Schubert tries, Lee Thomas 2 pens, 1 con.
: C Cullen; J Kelly, S Payne, R Henderson, A Horgan; R O’Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes, T Hogan, P O’Connell, J Williams, D Leamy, A Foley capt. Replacements: J Flannery for Sheahan 22-30; P Devlin for Payne half time; A Quinlan for Williams 65; P Burke for O’Gara 68; T Bowman and Flannery for O’Connell and Sheahan 74 mins; M Prendergast for Henderson 76.
: C Morgan; J Vaughton, R Williams, T Shanklin, F Tuilagi; L Thomas, D Dewdney; G Jenkins, G Williams, M Jones, C Quinnell, R Sidoli, N Thomas, M Williams (capt), K Schubert. Replacements: A Lewis, R Thomas, D Jones, N Budgett, R Smith, N Macleod, S James.
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