Coughlan says Reds’ meltdown ‘unacceptable’

Munster’s stand-in skipper James Coughlan expects the squad to face a nasty video session this morning.

Training will likely be brutal but the physical pain will hardly compare to the mental torture they will have to go through beforehand, as Rob Penney and his coaching staff remind the players just how bad they played at Thomond Park on Saturday night.

Coughlan is bracing himself for the barrage that’s likely to come the players’ way after what could yet turn out to be a hugely financially damaging loss to Glasgow given their chance of hosting a home semi-final or, indeed, even a place in the knock-out stage of the RaboDirect Pro12 tournament, is now at risk.

“Unacceptable,” is how Coughlan termed the display, “we’ll have to have a good look at ourselves individually. You can’t turn up there half cocked. To be fair to Glasgow they played as if they had something to play for and we didn’t.”

Coughlan conceded Munster were caught unawares and blown off the park.

“It came down to basics. You have to win the collisions. You have to win the breakdown and have to win possession in the right areas and I would say looking on Monday that Glasgow would have won every single one of those.

“I think everyone is blowing on about last week but if we’re going be considered a great side then you back it up.

“You think of Leinster over the last few years who have backed games up and we lacked that consistency. Professional sport being as it is, no one really cares what you did last week, what matters is what you do this week.

“Glasgow certainly didn’t care that we beat the hell out of Toulouse last week and they turned up like it. Maybe we fell a small bit in love with ourselves and lost focus, so I suppose there’s nothing but a kick up the backside to keep you going and we certainly got one of those.”

Coughlan recalled how former coach Declan Kidney had once challenged the Munster players to become great rather than stay good.

“I remember Deccie saying once that you can’t pick and choose your matches, the same way a doctor can’t pick and choose his patients, if you’re going to be considered a great team then you need to turn up week in and week out.

“Well, we didn’t turn up tonight so the pressure is on us now. In one sense that’s a great thing because we’ve a cup run now from here on, if we win all our games then we win two competitions, if we don’t we probably won’t. The Toulon game will probably look after itself because they always do, they’re special occasions.

“The important thing is now that we bounce back and get a reaction and turn up to Connacht and show them the respect they deserve, and maybe show ourselves a bit more respect than we showed tonight because we worked bloody hard all year and to leave yourselves down is tough, it leaves a bitter taste.”

Coughlan hopes Munster will bounce back sufficiently to maintain and strengthen a challenge to secure a top-two finish and grab one of two home semi-final spots.

Next up is Connacht and he’s aware of the dangers lurking in the Sportsground.

“We cannot afford to make so many basic errors as we did tonight, far too many. If you make them, regardless of whom you play, never mind a side of the quality of Glasgow, you’re going to struggle. But we have Connacht, then it’s Toulon and we certainly have loads to play for and that’s always a good thing.”