Payne refusing to panic

MUNSTER manager Shaun Payne insists the side aren’t ‘panicky’ in the wake of a succession of poor results and dismal performances.

Plenty of column inches have been devoted to the province’s stuttering start to the season in both the Heineken Cup and Magners League but the former star was yesterday attempting to put a positive spin on matters.

“Undoubtedly it has been a disappointing season but you have to take a snapshot of where we are at the minute,” Payne admitted.

“We sit on top of the Heineken Cup pool, we have won our home matches in the Magners League – and there’s a very long way to go in the season. We are disappointed with some of the performances, especially the 30-0 defeat to Leinster. That really hurts.

“Does it effect confidence? Yes, it does. But I stress again, it’s very early in the season. In the two years that we won the Heineken Cup, we lost seven or eight games in the Magners League.

“There’s nothing won at this stage of the season and we’re looking to build and to perform better. I think we can only improve from here.”

The many supporters who are less than pleased with such early season form and concerned that this may be an ageing squad in gradual decline could regard those comments as wishful thinking.

And who could blame them especially given the manner of the defeat to Edinburgh on Friday night. Payne didn’t see it quite like that although he had to admit that another loss and sub-par performance at the hands of high flying Ulster at Thomond Park on Saturday would have repercussions.

After that, they go into a month of inactivity and with only an away Magners League clash with the Ospreys on December 5 before the resumption of Heineken Cup action the following week against Perpignan.

Payne insisted: “No, we’re not panicky and, no, I’m not going to speculate about losing on Saturday because I can’t even contemplate that. We’re a side that is used to winning most of our games and that hasn’t happened yet.

“But I still think we’re in a good position for the rest of the season. I was looking up a few stats this morning … Free State lost their first four Currie Cup games in a row and now they’re in the final on Saturday.

“I was involved in a Swansea side that won the Premiership, the same year we had a crisis meeting six games into the season. We were one win, one draw and four losses and ended up winning the title.

“It’s early in the season. The form isn’t great at the minute, there’s no point in denying that but I think we have the experience plus a good blend of youth and of new players. Once that all clicks in towards the business end of the season, then I think we’ll be well placed. It is difficult to play at the top of your game for the entire season and we’ll be seeking to peak and play our best rugby of the season in phase three after the Six Nations.”

Payne’s admiration and respect for Ronan O’Gara hasn’t diminished in the slightest despite his recent drop in form.

“He is a very experienced player and if there’s anybody who can deal with the pressure, it’s Rog,” he declared.

“He missed one or two very difficult kicks at goal on Saturday. His general play has been good, he’s making his tackles, his distribution has been good so there’s no question mark about him.”

Notably O’Gara spent more than a half hour working on his goal kicking after the completion of yesterday’s session at the University of Limerick.

Questions also surround Jean De Villiers’ centre partnership with Lifeimi Mafi. They swapped around the number 12 and 13 jerseys last week although Payne, a versatile performer himself in his own playing days, pointed out: “they are interchangeable in the modern game. We did swap at the weekend but then didn’t have enough play during the game to really test it out. They’re both well capable of playing in either position and have done so in the past. It’s just a case of finding where they are most comfortable.”