Great expectations leave Reds fans blue

Diarmuid O’Flynn

There was a time, not so long ago when a victory, even a Thomond Park victory, over Welsh opposition would have been greeted by euphoria. The celebrations would have been even greater when that win kept Munster top of their qualifying group in the Heineken Cup and on course for a quarter-final place.

Yet there was very little jubilation among the Red faithful on Saturday; relief yes, that another bridge had been crossed, but a sense also of frustration. More was expected, more could certainly have been delivered; nevertheless, are we starting to become a bit precious? Depends on how you look at it.

Those other Reds, Manchester United, drew in the FA Cup, also on Saturday last, also at home, against Exeter. Exeter fans were euphoric, United fans were disgusted; same competition, same result for both sides, diametrically opposing reactions. It comes back to expectation.

Because of their outstanding performances in the Heineken Cup over the last six years, Munster now rank among the elite. In raising their standards, however, they have also raised expectations among their loyal legions. And despite the frustration, those legions ARE still loyal.

Of most concern to the fans is the continued sterility of a backline which has been producing the goods in the Celtic League, as witnessed by the hardcore few thousand who also follow Munster in that competition. Admittedly, the Heineken Cup, even at group stage, is a couple of steps above the Celtic League, but the best pros relish that sort of challenge.

Too many times this season, however, we’ve seen the Munster backline drop balls, knock on, lose ball in the tackle, sling out poor passes; on Saturday, it was the kicking. There was too much of it, much of it of the poor variety which handed possession back to a team that had proven its worth at holding onto it. At this stage, even the players themselves must be getting frustrated with it all, the forwards especially.

“We just didn’t play in the second half, we tried to let the wind do it for us,” admitted a clearly frustrated Paul O’Connell. “As a result, we kicked the ball away, and that was a big problem.”

It’s a problem that will need to be sorted before Saturday. Harlequins in Twickenham is not the gimme game many think it is, though Munster captain Anthony Foley was dismissive of the old Twickers factor. “A former coach of ours (Mr Kidney, perhaps?) has said a pitch is a pitch, goalposts at either end, white lines all round. In the past it might have been a daunting place to go to, when it was packed to the rafters. I don’t imagine it will be like that on Saturday.”

Yet he still sounded a note of caution: “It’s an away game for us, and it’s always tough to win away from home in the Heineken Cup.”

This team has raised its own standards, its own expectations, raised those of its followers accordingly, but it still needs support, more so this weekend with so much on the line. Unlike other Heineken Cup games, tickets will be readily available, and a trip to London is within reason, timewise and financially. Harlequins are a real danger; their pride was savaged last weekend in France, it could be salvaged this weekend. What better opportunity? What better stage than Twickenham?

Thanks largely to an outstanding pack, to well-organised defence, Munster have been grinding out the wins, but they are still struggling to put the whole package together. For those who believe a Munster win is a foregone conclusion, that the four-try bonus-point is almost a certainty, manager Alan Gaffney has a message. Think again.

“You don’t go over to Harlequins and think it’s just going to happen, that’s not the way it works. We’re going over there, we’ll set ourselves a number of tasks, get the process right. If we get the process right, the way we want to play the game, it (bonus point) will probably pop out the other end, but we’ve got to make sure we play the way we want to play.

“The game-plan is agreed between the players and myself, we can’t deviate too much from it. There’s always going to be plan A, B and C, we can’t just go off on a tangent and try to do things that are totally outside the scope of what we’ve planned. I’ll take never take the flair away from players but there are certain things we’ve got to do, within reason.”