Now Munster must really front up

THE last few weeks on the road across the rugby homes of Europe has been challenging to say the least.

Aircraft engine failure in the dead of night in Clermont, missing train drivers and freezing roads meant the journey to and from south Wales last weekend was no picnic either. The prospect of spending Christmas in Swansea is not one to excite.

For Munster, the ease with which they have become accustomed to navigating their way around Europe is also being called into question. The forthcoming expedition to previously unchartered territory in Toulon will define their season.

The prospect of only having Paul O’Connell back in a red jersey on the day that Munster could potentially exit this season’s Heineken Cup doesn’t bear thinking about. That man seriously needs game time.

Right now, of all the Irish teams, Leinster are in pole position while Munster are strapped into the ejector seat with the control button in the hands of Toulon. Playing at home provides that distinct advantage. Ulster are also very much in contention for a quarter-final berth with the added attraction of a safety net should they lose to Biarritz in January as they appear likely to occupy one of the two best runners-up slots, courtesy of the presence of Aironi. The fact that Leicester drew with Perpignan last Sunday in Welford Road was also a good result for the northerners as it reduces the potential points take for the second-placed team in Pool Five.

Munster have no need to look elsewhere for help; if they lose in France, they are out. Since the tournament expanded from four to six pools in 1999/00, nobody has ever qualified for the quarter-finals after losing three pool games. Ulster won four of their six pool games last season and still failed to qualify principally because they only picked up one bonus point along the way. Munster have already managed to accumulate three this season which has been crucial to keeping their hopes alive.

Munster must get their collective heads around the fact that if they can get their set piece functioning properly, then there is no reason why they cannot travel to Toulon and win. After all, it is just over nine weeks since they dispatched the same opposition 45-18, scoring six tries along the way, in Limerick. This Munster squad are well used to setting a marker away from home and should draw encouragement from the fact their best performance last season was delivered in the demanding surrounds of the Stade Aime Giral in Perpignan, scoring four tries in a magnificent 14-37 victory.

HOWEVER, the issues surrounding the Munster scrum need to be addressed. Scrummaging is as much a mental challenge as a physical one. It is also about the collective, with the timing of the hit, the body angles and feet positions of the front five all crucial to maximising the combined force of the eight forwards. The pressure is greatest on the tight head as he has to deal with the demands placed on him by both the opposition hooker and loose head prop. If he is in trouble, then the entire scrum will suffer.

Tony Buckley endured a difficult day last Saturday but demonstrated on several occasions this season, most noticeably against Rodrigo Roncero in the Argentina test, that he can be effective at this level. His problem is that when he is in trouble against a specific type of opponent, as he was against Paul James on Saturday, he does not seem to have the know-how to make the necessary technical adjustments in the heat of battle.

There is no worse feeling for a forward unit than to be smashed in the scrum and the consequences are felt through the rest of the team. It happened to an Irish pack I was part of on a frozen pitch in Twickenham in 1986, resulting in a series of pushover tries for England. I remember our full back Hugo McNeill coming up to me behind the posts wondering would it help if he added his weight to our retreating scrum. I think he is still recovering from my response.

Toulon, with Carl Hayman at tight head, have a very compact and efficient scrum but Munster, with last Saturday’s front row of Wian du Preez, Damien Varley and Buckley on board, had no great difficulty when the sides met in Thomond Park. As a result of what happened against the Ospreys, Munster know in advance that Toulon will target this area and need to prepare for that onslaught.

It can also be turned into a positive. When a side is expected in advance to be vastly superior in one of the set piece areas and it fails to materialise, it acts as a massive confidence boost to the side expected to be under pressure. That is exactly what happened when Ireland dismantled South Africa’s lineout in that victory in Dublin last season.

With three Magners League games against Connacht, Ulster and Glasgow before the Heineken Cup resumes, the Munster pack must take out their frustration on all comers and rediscover their nasty streak.

While Donncha O’Callaghan and Mick O’Driscoll have performed extremely well of late — indeed one could add the names of Billy Holland and Ian Nagle to that — there is no doubt Paul O Connell’s sheer presence is badly missed. In addition his leadership and refusal to countenance sloppy standards would also extract that little bit more from all around him.

This Munster team has experienced a period of rapid change of late to such a degree that only six players who started in the 2008 Heineken Cup final were there from the off last Saturday. There is a hardcore of experience that for one reason or another has not featured regularly for a while and that is difficult to replace.

After the disappointing defeat to Biarritz last May, Munster regrouped and came back strongly to such an extent that they currently lead the Magners League and up to last Saturday, topped their Heineken Cup pool.

They haven’t done a whole lot wrong and therefore it shouldn’t take a whole lot to rectify the errors and slipshod play that pock-marked their performance in Swansea. Now wouldn’t be a bad time for one of those famous crisis meetings.

Have a great Christmas.