O’Connell: beware backlash of wounded Clermont

IN a sport as directly confrontational as rugby, on a pitch that has really levelled out physically since the advent of the professional era, more and more nowadays at the top level it’s the psychological battles that can end up deciding the outcome of the war.

Sometimes a team will use psychology to undermine their opponents; sometimes it’s used purely to boost themselves.

Over the years, under former coach Declan Kidney, Munster became very adept at the latter, used their underdog tag to massive effect as they grew from being one of the also rans of Europe to being top dog.

So, what’s the angle to be this year? Reigning champions, top-ranked team overall even from the beginning of the Heineken Cup competition, what’s the approach to be this season? Going into tomorrow’s pool match in Clermont, at first glance Munster would appear to have the psychological edge.

Unbeaten in the pool, winners at home to Montauban but much more impressive winners away to Sale, they go to Clermont unbeaten, riding high atop the group.

Clermont, meanwhile, lost their first game, a bonus-point drubbing at the hands of Sale, which means they should be the ones on the back foot.

Paradoxically, however, according to Munster captain Paul O’Connell — on this occasion it could well be Clermont coming into this in the better frame of mind.

“They are now in the situation we were so often in ourselves; when you’ve lost your first game, that really clarifies everything, focuses the mind, because every game after that becomes a cup final.

“They lost their first game, a home game; I wouldn’t say they’re now in a bad position because in some ways it’s a good position — the years we won, it was great, because every game after our first game, we knew we had to win. That’s the situation they find themselves in now.”

“It’s hard to say yet what way the group will go but Sale’s win in Clermont, with a bonus point, probably turned everything on its head.

“ I haven’t really thought through all the permutations yet; we’ll be going over to try and win, we’ll be looking to start well, something we didn’t do last season when we gave ourselves 25 minutes of hell (Munster conceded two early tries to Clermont in the pool game last March, before recovering in the second half, taking a vital and ultimately pool-winning bonus losing point). We were making mistakes, putting ourselves under pressure — we’ll be trying to avoid doing that this time.”

WITH that in mind, will they be tearing into Clermont from the start, much as Sale did in their win, or will they play the percentages, sit back and let Clermont come to them, see what they have to offer, much as it looked like they did last March?

“I don’t know, maybe it looked like we sat back; we made mistakes, we turned the ball over far too often, we didn’t put the ball into touch when we should have which allowed them to run back at us, and you look at their back three, the wingers they have — strong men, they ran at us, we missed tackles, put ourselves under a lot of pressure.

“And while Sale did tear into them, three of their tries came from turnover ball — Clermont had them under a lot of pressure also. It’s going to be very tough, but the big thing for us away from home is to start well, sometimes we fail to do that.

“You saw what happened when we started well against Sale, you give yourselves a great chance; we’d always back our fitness levels, and that’s what stood to us away against Clermont last year, that fitness really told in the end. The same against Sale, we had a lead, finished strong, and that’s important.”

Sticking with the psychological, Munster are missing three stars tomorrow, with Jerry Flannery, Denis Leamy and Rua Tipoki all absent through injury. Such a loss could have a debilitating effect on most sides, especially a team heading to France to play one of the most consistent sides in the French league on their home battleground. Forget it, says O’Connell.

“If you took Denis, Rua and Jerry, three of the best players in Europe in their positions, out of any other team, I’d say that team would be travelling with low confidence. Not Munster, and that’s the strength of our squad.

“You can’t be looking for just four or five leaders to motivate the team week in, week out, you need ambitious individuals all across the squad, and that’s what we have. It’s incredible to think Micko (O’Driscoll) isn’t even in the 22 this week, you also have guys like Niall Ronan who wouldn’t have been there six weeks ago.

“If you have that bubbling underneath the 22 who go out every week, it takes pressure off the senior players when you have at least 30 players with that hunger to be first choice — we didn’t always have that. Normally this team picks itself. Right now you couldn’t say that, it’s so competitive.”

So, no complacency in this new Munster side under Tony McGahan; new mind games, perhaps, for a side now accepted as being among the blue-bloods in Europe, but same old blue-collar mindset. Comforting, that.