Munster can still improve, insists O’Driscoll
Even though O’Connell spoke those words with a straight face, there was just the hint of a tongue cheek about it. Asked if he agreed with his captain’s comments, O’Driscoll dryly remarked: “You had better go back to Paulie on that one. But if he said it, I suppose that’s enough.”
No hostages of fortune will be taken in the Munster camp — in stark contrast to the inexperienced Perpignan back-row forward Yoann Vivaldo, who was quoted last week as saying “Munster played like an academy side” in the first meeting of the teams. You might have thought that would have made for ideal motivational material for Munster but not so, according to O’Driscoll.
“For us, it’s always been about the team, the lads in the squad and what happens outside doesn’t influence us to a large degree. These things get brought up now and then but they’re not massive motivational factors.
“We need to add a lot to our game and while I think we played very well at the weekend and deserved the bonus point, you might question whether Perpignan had given up by the end. We believe in what we are doing and believe in the coaches and going forward, we can only but improve. It had been coming, Sunday was the culmination of all that.”
And what of those who were claiming Munster were a team in decline? “We always believed that just because we were playing badly didn’t make us a bad team,” he countered. “A lot of people out there and a lot of people in the media, thought we were.
“We were getting the usual stuff — ‘they’re past at it, they’re too old’, which happens pretty much every year. But it never bothered us because we believed in ourselves and knew these results were coming.”
O’Driscoll, of course, played for Perpignan for two seasons and retains friendships there and also a close knowledge of the club’s ethos that, no doubt, was put to good use over the past couple of weeks.
“I spoke to a good few Perpignan people and they were disappointed at not beating us at Thomond Park,” he revealed. “But they were confident going into second game, that they would at least win and keep us from getting a bonus point, which meant they’d automatically have gone ahead of us on tries scored. They were massively disappointed and were booed off.”
Like all in the Munster squad, O’Driscoll was thrilled with the impact made by replacement Jean de Villiers.
“You hear the silly rumours that are out there about Jean, that he is not settling in, that he is just here for the money and all this sort of stuff,” he stated.
“But he has worked as hard as anyone this season. He will be the first to admit that it hasn’t gelled 100% straight away. But it takes time for a guy to fit into new surroundings. You saw when he scored the try on Sunday that, to a man, all the team were around him. That is a great sign.”
One might have imagined that to come from the high of beating the French champions on their home patch in the European Cup to taking on Connacht on the day after Christmas might be something of a downer. But the Cork-based contingent made their way through extremely hazardous road conditions not much more than 24 hours after returning from Perpignan for training in UL on Tuesday.
The spirits were high and there was plenty of motivation as well. O’Driscoll was captain this time last year when Connacht beat Munster at the Sportsground and he doesn’t want a repeat, even if the absence of many big names could be used as an excuse.
“We have a number of the international guys on active rest so it is a massive opportunity for everyone. We need to build on last weekend. Our Magners League form hasn’t been superb but now we just need to build on what happened in Perpignan.”
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