Munster must pack a wallop
Munster will emerge successfully from tomorrow’s Heineken Cup semi-final against Wasps at Lansdowne Road if they can hold and ultimately overcome what appears to be an especially formidable visiting pack.
If Jim Williams and co fail in this respect, it is difficult to see anything other than a win for Warren Gatland’s men and a place in the final at Twickenham in four weeks time. It isn’t difficult to visualise Robert Howley snapping away at the heels of a dominant pack, dictating the trend with his sniping runs, linking with his estimable back-row forwards Lawrence Dallaglio, Joe Worsley and Paul Volley or providing out-half Alex King with the time and space to use his powerful left boot to set up field position.
If I paint a grim picture, it is, of course, based on Wasps being allowed to gain forward supremacy.
Warren Gatland and his fellow backroom boys firmly believe Munster won’t have the strength to curb the near 20 stone hooker Trevor Leota for the eighty minutes. They also believe a scrum that creaked ominously at times against Stade Francais won’t be able to hold the veteran great All Black prop Craig Dowd and another international in England’s Will Green.
And with Simon Shaw fit to take his place, they also believe that Munster’s dashing young line-out pair of Donnacha O’Callaghan and Paul O’Connell can be put in their place. Personally I doubt it.
For one thing, Leota will quickly discover that his rival hooker Frankie Sheahan is no shrinking violet himself. John Hayes may well lack the technique of Dowd, and Horan will concede a few pounds to Green, but this isn’t a first time scenario for either and all the work done in the past 10 days or so will ensure a far more solid Munster scrum on this occasion.
When was the last day Munster worried about its back-row formation? So well has the David Wallace, Jim Williams and Anthony Foley axis performed that the loss to injury for the whole season of Denis Leamy and Alan Quinlan was hardly felt.
This promises to be a battle royal on which there will be a compulsion on Foley to negate the threat posed by Dallaglio while also helping Peter Stringer to keep an eye on Howley.
“I definitely think it is going to be won and lost up front,” said Marcus Horan. “You have two packs that are very strong, very physical. It is going to be huge right across the board, scrums, line-outs, rucks and mauls. Whoever wants it most will win it. We need to get off to a great start like we did against Stade and really lay down the law and force our game on them.”
The obvious way for Munster to do just that is for O’Callaghan and O’Connell at the front and middle and Jim Williams at the back to command the line-out.
In spite of Shaw’s outstanding recent form, it does appear an area where Wasps are vulnerable, with Leota’s often suspect throwing vulnerable under pressure. Both teams possess a powerful maul, so line-out ball is crucial if either side is to impose itself.
O’Callaghan will be trying to get between Leota and Shaw and cause as much mayhem as possible. And that, of course, would leave O’Connell free to make things difficult for the relatively inexperienced Richard Birkett.
Modern defensive formations being what they are, picking holes in the opposition will not be easy but there are individuals in the Munster side who know all too well that they must not be found wanting like they were against Stade.
Furthermore, Munster will hope this is the day Christian Cullen repays a portion of that big salary and all the patience placed in him since he reached these shores. The time is now ripe for Cullen to show what he can contribute over 80 minutes.
Again, of course, his hands and those of Ronan O’Gara and the rest of the back line will be tied if the forwards don’t do their stuff.
Lansdowne Road may not be Thomond Park but it’s not a whole lot different on a day when the stadium is a sea of red and 99% of the people there desperately want to see Munster into another final. You must take on board Marcus Horan’s point that the side who wants it most will carry the day and listen when he says: “It’s a huge game for us as players. You realise there’s a lot more than the 15 who take the field or the squad of 22, you have to also understand that you are representing a huge number of people.”
Whereas Wasps is a commercial enterprise and a side with a limited following, Munster is a cause with the best supporters in the world. Therein may well lie the difference come 5pm tomorrow.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
