Swimming with the sharks

THE complex nature of Heineken Cup quarter-final qualification ensured that rugby fans across Europe were mathematically challenged for the weekend.

The completion of the pool stage has resulted in three of the best from both England and France joining Leinster and Munster in the knockout stages.

Given that neither Scotland, Wales nor Italy has any representation, this is a creditable achievement for the two Irish provinces. However, when the final pool standings revealed themselves, Munster and Leinster were handed very difficult assignments.

The falling chips have been particularly cruel on Leinster. As the only unbeaten side in the tournament, their nine-try rout of Treviso on Saturday was clinically executed and confirmed their status as the No 1 seed. With Castres losing to the Ospreys at the Gnoll, Edinburgh’s shock victory over Perpignan allowed Leicester to qualify by the skin of their teeth.

Given that the two Scottish district sides had lost all eleven games to date, this was a major surprise. While Leinster still harbour nightmares about their shock semi-final defeat to Perpignan two years ago, I am sure Declan Kidney would have settled for the same French opposition on this occasion.

Last weekend, a try in injury time by Harry Ellis maintained Leicester’s interest in the competition. In Kidney’s time with Munster, he never enjoyed any element of luck in this tournament. Deja vu. At least they have the advantage of playing in the familiar surroundings of Lansdowne Road.

Leicester currently top the Zurich premiership and the quality of their pack will ask serious questions of Leinster.

Munster, on the other hand, will rue the fact that they failed to secure a bonus point in either of their last two games. Ultimately that has cost them the opportunity of a fascinating Dublin double bill in April. It also denies them the prospect of a financial bonanza from gate receipts. Given the necessity to strengthen their squad in the immediate future, this could be even more damaging in the long run.

Once more the travelling red army will be forced to head to the South of France where Biarritz await. Given their emergence from a pool containing former champions Leicester and Wasps, they will provide a formidable challenge. Their victories over England’s two best sides on successive weekends provide ample evidence of how difficult a task Munster now face.

The quality of French rugby at present is best exemplified by the fact that all three of their qualifiers have secured home venue. By way of contrast, the English teams have struggled somewhat with both Leicester and Northampton qualifying as best second placed teams. With Northampton travelling to Toulouse and Newcastle to Paris where they meet Stade Francais, English involvement come semi-final time could be slim.

At Twickenham on Saturday, the atmosphere for Munster’s game was almost surreal. Ironically, a half-empty stadium celebrated a record pool attendance for the competition. While the Munster supporters outnumbered their opposition by a ratio of almost 3 to 1, vast empty spaces rendered the occasion a little flat. Munster’s performance replicated the atmosphere. For whatever reason, right from the start, they seemed less focused than normal. When Anthony Horgan scored Munster’s opening try after seven minutes, it lulled his team into a false sense of security.

Somewhere along the way, Munster got their wires badly crossed. Prior to kick off, Alan Gaffney emphasised the importance of not being sucked into a Barbarians-type game. Munster needed structure and continuity to build their phase game. On the pitch, they contrived to do the opposite.

They never established any level of control and spent long periods defending. While their defence has been excellent all season, on this occasion it was poor. Too many first-up tackles were missed and only for a great defensive display from Christian Cullen, Munster would have suffered even more. Two standout tackles on Gavin Duffy and Ugo Monye were vital.

Munster were guilty of a number of unforced errors and also turned over ball on more than ten occasions. Against a side like Biarritz, with their ability to counter-attack from turnover ball, this will prove costly.

Despite reaching the break on target with two tries on the board, Munster looked decidedly uncomfortable. The calming influence that Ronan O’Gara brings to the team was sadly lacking and, for the second game in a row, Paul Burke kicked badly. He was not helped by a less than assured performance from Peter Stringer.

Given that former Leinster player Andy Dunne missed two kickable penalties, Munster were fortunate to resume the second half with a two-point lead. Under the circumstances and allowing for the cynical nature of the Harlequins challenge, Munster needed to be patient. They also needed to revert to type and play a tighter driving game. Their lineout provided a perfect platform given they were totally dominant in this area. Incredibly, Harlequins had only three lineout throws in the first 55 minutes of the game and failed to win any. What they did effectively was concentrate their efforts on the ground to stop Munster’s driving maul at source.

Despite a number of anxious moments, in particular Monye’s excellent second half break, Munster were happy to reach the final whistle with the win that guaranteed they advance to the quarterfinals.

The lack of a bonus point meant an anxious 24 hours and a silent prayer that former adversary, Gloucester, would do the necessary and beat Stade Francais. Unfortunately that was not to be and their impressive 27-0 victory in Kingsholm obliterated any prospect of a home quarter-final for Munster.

How costly will that prove to be?