It’s good to talk, says Leamy

JUST as political parties might do once a year for less appealing reasons, the Munster rugby squad regrouped in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, on Monday following their Magners League loss to Leinster – to assess whether they were a team in crisis or one just slightly off-colour.

By their actions, the difference between sport and politics was graphically illustrated in that it was merely one of a number of regular assessments for a team still on top of the Celtic competition. Self-critical analysis is part of the package for professional players and coaches.

Yet, in advance of Saturday’s opening Heineken Cup clash against London Irish at the Madjeski Stadium in Reading, it was probably necessary; there were many serious issues to be discussed, like what went wrong in their Aviva Stadium debut; why they rarely, if ever, looked like scoring a try and how they lost a fifth successive derby to their Irish arch-rivals.