Time for Munster to put their best foot forward

Now comes the hard part.

For all the celebrations of last-ditch escapology that Munster’s Champions Cup victory at Sale Sharks last Saturday inspired, the cold reality remained that Anthony Foley’s team are still in must-win territory as far as this fledgling European campaign is concerned.

And there can not be a more stark wake-up call to that hard truth than the visit of Pool 1 favourites Saracens to Thomond Park this evening.

Such is the nature of this streamlined competition, with its reduced numbers and tougher groups, that English Premiership top six club Sale represented the least daunting opposition for Munster in a pool that also contains Saracens and Clermont Auvergne and even then they only just got home against the Sharks by the skin of their teeth.

The noises from the Munster camp this week have therefore been of the need for a big improvement if they are to emerge unbeaten from the first two rounds of this pool before heading into much more difficult challenges over the remaining four.

By rights they should already be dead and buried, such was the lethargy of their early start last Saturday lunchtime in Manchester. For after a try inside the first 10 minutes from Dave Kilcoyne, Munster hit the sleep button, retreating into hibernation for virtually the rest of the opening half, their slack defending, poor ball retention and unnecessary disciplinary lapses allowing Sale a 23-7 interval lead that flattered only the visitors.

And still they were let off the hook early in the second half as Sale fly-half Danny Cirpiani failed to apply the killer blow.

So as admirable as the fightback that followed was for the 27-26 victory, Foley is acutely aware of the increase in standards that will be required if this powerful Saracens squad is to be stopped.

The Munster head coach has resisted the temptation to make sweeping changes to a winning team, promoting just the props James Cronin and BJ Botha at the expense of Kilcoyne and Stephen Archer in an attempt to bring some early stability to a scrum that coughed up penalties in the opening half against Sale.

And, despite the lapses that allowed two first-half Sale tries through a creaking red defensive line, Foley has decided not to potentially further sacrifice security by introducing a more cutting edge to his midfield, retaining the services of Denis Hurley at 12 in the hope the Corkman will resurrect his tour de force against Leinster at the Aviva earlier this month rather than repeat last weekend’s less than dynamic outing.

Saracens changes, meanwhile, are either enforced through injury or point to the rotation of a star-studded squad. There are not many coaches who would consider dropping winning half-backs Richard Wigglesworth and Charlie Hodgson to the bench following their excellence in the bonus-point home victory over Clermont last Saturday. Then again, director of rugby Mark McCall is in the enviable position of being able to switch Lions fly-half Owen Farrell from inside centre to number 10 and call in former Springbok Neil de Kock at scrum-half. Or rest captain and South African Test lock Alistair Hargreaves and bring in Scotland’s Jim Hamilton.

It is the reason Munster captain Peter O’Mahony called them a “complete team” earlier this week and why head coach Foley was so impressed by their seven-point win over Clermont.

“Saracens had their opportunities and they got one or two and they didn’t look back,” Foley said. “They didn’t say ‘are you sure?’ They took their chances and that’s what we expect.

“You look through all seven of their games this season and there’s times when they’re put to the pin of their collar, the Wasps game earlier this season and the London Irish game, they hung in there and they got a result.

“At the weekend it was 23-all and it looked like the game had gone from them and they came back and scored straight away once the penalty was reversed and they were ruthless.

“We expect that. We had them two years ago and it was the same. They’ve always been tight encounters when we’ve met in Europe so I wouldn’t imagine this would be any different.”

That contest two seasons ago when Foley was forwards coach in the Rob Penney regime saw Farrell have a rare off-day with the boot, nailing only two penalties from six attempts in a game Munster won 15-9 in a pool campaign where each side won their home game and the new boss believes Saracens have improved since.

“They’ve evolved. Every team evolves but under Mark they’ve a very Cup mentality. They win a lot more than they lose. They’ve an excellent pack of forwards, De Kock, Wigglesworth, Hodgson, Farrell in their half-backs and a back three of Goode, Strettle and Ashton that can do damage...

“They’re an international outfit and a very good club side. They tend to get to the knockout stages of most competitions and were in the final last year. They have the bug for Europe, for trying to win trophies, so it should be a good contest.”

It could be a blockbuster, but only if Munster turn up. We have seen them in good, bad and downright ugly mode already this season but tonight they need to give a packed house only their very best. It has emerged only in patches during this campaign but when the Thomond Park lights go on this evening, powerhouse visitors take to the field and a European showdown kicks off, it has to be more consistent.

The comfort for supporters is that on nights like tonight, when they crank up the volume and make the atmosphere electric, their heroes usually respond in kind.

This time they have no choice.