Watershed moment beckons for Munster

IT is usually deep into January before Heineken Cup coaches throw their cards on the table and prepare to stand or fall by their decisions but this evening’s opener at home to Northampton could prove to be a watershed moment for Munster and Tony McGahan.

These are unusual times for Munster supporters and not only because this is only the third time in 11 seasons their province has opened a Heineken Cup campaign on home soil. Yet beginning this season’s tournament at Thomond Park merely throws McGahan’s squad under the spotlight even further because a defeat to last year’s in-form finalists tonight will leave qualification from Pool 1 to the knockout stages seriously in doubt.

Munster do not need reminding that they failed to reach the quarter-finals last season for the first time in 13 Heineken Cup campaigns but they fell by the wayside as a result of their away form and sloppy defeats at London Irish, Ospreys and Toulon, not because of their home form.

A subsequent defeat at Fortress Thomond, to Harlequins, in the Amlin Challenge Cup semi-finals, changed the landscape to the one Munster finds itself occupying today and Northampton flew into Shannon yesterday believing they too can check out with an away win.

Which is why, on the back of a disappointing RaboDirect Pro12 defeat at Leinster last weekend, McGahan has made one of those bold team selections for tonight’s game that suggests the province is on the brink of an era-defining moment.

The Munster head coach is already overseeing an overhaul of the squad that delivered two Heineken Cup titles in 2006 and 2008 but injury has robbed him of current stalwarts Jerry Flannery and David Wallace as well as newer models Felix Jones and Keith Earls. Yesterday, in naming his starting XV to face Northampton, he went further, relegating Donncha O’Callaghan and Denis Leamy to the replacements bench in two of five changes from the team which started the 24-19 Aviva Stadium defeat to Leinster eight days ago.

O’Callaghan’s demotion has prompted Donnacha Ryan’s switch from the back to the second row with Peter O’Mahony and James Coughlan coming into the back row. Elsewhere, Conor Murray gets the nod over Tomás O’Leary at scrum-half while Danny Barnes replaces Australian Will Chambers at outside centre.

Not only does that leave just five survivors from the team which started the 2008 final against Toulouse, it means McGahan is putting his trust in recent academy graduates Barnes, Murray and O’Mahony to produce the goods while making their Heineken Cup debuts against an English side firing on all cylinders since their World Cup contingent returned from New Zealand.

Injury has also forced the promotion of 23-year-old prop John Ryan to the bench in place of Marcus Horan (ankle), a week on from playing in Cork Constitution’s Ulster Bank League win over Clontarf, and it underlines McGahan’s commitment to the next generation.

So is this evening’s game the dawn of a new age or the last rites on a golden era? Perhaps a little of both. And most definitely McGahan is looking for a response to last week’s lacklustre effort in Dublin when Munster lacked the discipline, aggression and finishing power to unsettle their interprovincial rivals.

Hurley, one of the five 2008 starters, replaces Earls, whose finishing on the evidence of his World Cup performances had looked to be back to its 2009 best, while the Australian coach’s surgery on the back row is his own response to those problems concerning the breakdown.

McGahan outlined why he believes the 22-year-old O’Mahony, who has already captained his province in the Rabo, is the man to apply the bite so desperately lacking against Leinster.

“Peter came in last year, he was in the 23 through all the start of the season but unfortunately picked up a neck injury which put him out for three months and that certainly delayed his comeback back into the squad and he was unable to force his way back in.

“Being out for three months, virtually unable to train in regard to weights or on the field with his neck injury, that really made it longer. So this year he’s taken part and done a full pre-season, came back and worked his way in so we’re really pleased with his progress and what he brings to the group for the playing side.

“We talk about in the back row having that abrasive nature about yourself and he’s also well able to handle himself individually but also his contribution to the team in the hard things that he does off the ball that his team-mates appreciate.”

Was it time for the young players to make their mark?

“It is and that’s a process that’s slowly been turning over for a little while, certainly Peter, from a leadership position is at that forefront of that.

“When you’re replacing long-term players, very good international players, very good Munster players who’ve been there for a long time, there’s always going to be that change. I think what you’re going to see from the back row is plenty of enthusiasm, a lot of intensity, a lot of Munster spirit that we want every player to possess but especially so in the back row because it’s such a competitive area.”

Munster do go into this game with positives of their own from the Leinster game, not least a scrum that has benefited greatly from the addition of BJ Botha at tighthead and a set-piece in general that will be vital to providing the platform which half-backs Murray and Ronan O’Gara need to win the territory vital to success against Northampton, whose own scrum is the well-documented foundation of their play.

McGahan acknowledged as much when he said: “It’s going to be a huge contest this week. We know first-hand from Northampton two years ago in the two pool games and the quarter-final, and certainly in their progress to get to the final last year was on the back of the scrum in particular.”

If it feels a little early in the campaign for a do-or-die performance from Munster, you would be right. Yet these are difficult moments and this is backs to the wall time. Ireland went to the well in similar circumstances a couple of months ago and turned over a much-fancied Australia side at the World Cup. Munster will need to dig just as deep.