Cool heads and ruthless hearts key for Munster rugby
Now all head coach Anthony Foley requires are the cool heads, ruthless hearts and the white-hot atmosphere it will take to add ASM Clermont Auvergne to their long list of French victims in their Limerick stronghold.
The atmosphere should never be taken for granted but after the passion the supporters have continued to show at less agreeable kick-off times, against Toulouse on a Sunday lunchtime last April and Saracens on a Friday night this season, it is the one factor in that checklist that Munster can rely on.
As for the cool heads and ruthless hearts, well, it is a case of fingers crossed, because if last weekend’s league performance against Ulster is anything to go by then Munster have had plenty to put right in both departments.
Foley is keeping faith with Ian Keatley as his goal kicker having backed his fly-half as the best man for the job following another poor place-kicking display on his home turf that left nine points out there and made what should have been solid Pro12 victory over the Ulstermen a nerve-jangling affair that relied on opposite number Ian Humphreys to follow suit and miss a late conversion that handed the home side the narrowest of wins. It was the same against Saracens in round two of this Champions Cup pool campaign on Oct 14, Munster winning 14-3 when Keatley converted only two from six placed kicks, although scoring a drop goal. He needs to repay that faith in what promises to be another extremely close encounter.
For if there is one thing Munster cannot afford against a star-studded Clermont side with a deep bench it is to give them any sort of a free pass into this game like they gave Ulster eight days go. Four cheap penalties allowed Humphreys to open up a 12-0 lead for the visitors after just 20 minutes and those disciplinary lapses were made all the more aggravating for Foley because he and his coaching staff had spent the week prepping their players on exactly the sort of indiscretions referee Ian Davies would clamp down on.
“You point it out and you hold fellas accountable for it,” Foley said this week of such recklessness. “You make sure fellas know they just can’t do that in the professional game. We are in a results business, it doesn’t matter how they are got, it is a results business.
“You are going head to head with Clermont, you can’t give them any leg up. Let them create their own opportunities. We’ll have to create our own so let them create their own, let’s not give them anything. That has been where our focus was this week, don’t give them anything, making sure our discipline is right.”
That’s the plea for cool heads, what about the killer instincts that will be needed to bury Clermont rather than allow them back into the game should Munster find themselves with their noses in front? That side of their make-up was badly missing last weekend when, after clawing back that 12-0 deficit and edging in front at 21-12 with 25 minutes to go, they allowed Ulster back into the game through a series of missed kicks, poor decision-making and a senseless yellow card for substitute prop Stephen Archer.
It followed on from a similarly alarming period of play in their opening pool game at Sale Sharks when having done the important part and scored an early try at the AJ Bell Stadium, Munster switched off, got a man sent to the sin-bin when Tommy O’Donnell committed hari-kari in his own 22 and Sale found themselves 23-7 up at half-time. At least that time Keatley dug his team out of a hole with that famous drop goal past 80 minutes.
“We just need to be ruthless,” Foley said looking ahead to these home and away ties with Clermont. “You get nine points ahead of a side you don’t take your foot off their throats. If we get momentum into this game we keep the pressure on and we don’t come off it. On the head to head everyone knows it is played over 160 minutes but what we have to do is deal with the 80 minutes and that we make sure we are properly prepared.”
Welcoming back a pair of world-class captains in Munster’s Peter O’Mahony and Ireland’s Paul O’Connell will clearly help Foley achieve those goals today and with returning scrum-half Conor Murray they form a triumvirate that will act as the fulcrum of a side that will look to harrass and frustrate a Clermont side which has shown it can crumble as badly as any side when the pressure comes down the squeeze is applied. Their implosion against Saracens in last season’s Heineken Cup semi-final was alarming for neutrals, let alone the passionate supporters of the club from the Massif Central and Thomond Park is just the sort of place where similar things could happen if Munster get their act together.
There are concerns in having to field an untested midfield combination in short-term loanee Pat Howard and Denis Hurley against Clermont’s Wesley Fofana and Aurelien Rougerie, just one of a number of head to heads with the visitors that don’t quite seem to match up.
Yet with O’Connell leading by example, O’Mahony commanding the breakdown and Murray dictating play from behind the ruck, Munster can take control of this fascinating encounter, dominate territory and grind out a victory.
Nothing else will do in a pool as tight as this one and with a return trip to Clermont and a visit to their own fortress Stade Marcel Michelin coming just seven days later. A bonus point victory for the home side would be the stuff of dreams against the French club’s serious array of talent but in the scheme of things denying Clermont a losing bonus point will prove just as crucial.
Munster lead this pool by two points from Clermont and are three ahead of Saracens. A four-nil tally at the end of tonight and a six-point margin over Frank Azema’s side will do very nicely heading to France next weekend, ensuring they stay ahead of their rivals come what may as they turn into rounds five and six in the new year.
It is a must-win, Munster dare not lose but achieving the necessary can open up a world of possibilities for this season and cool heads and ruthless hearts are the key.
How they match up
Munster: Kilcoyne, Casey and Botha return from last Friday’s win over Ulster when the scrum came under some early pressure before the Munster front row turned things around. The powerful scrummaging of Ulster hooker Rory Best, described as a second tighthead by Anthony Foley, could prove to be an ideal tune-up for this Clermont pack. 3½/5
Clermont: The front row which faced Toulon last week is retained and although loosehead Thomas Domingo came under pressure from Carl Hayman last week in Nice, conceding a scrum penalty, they retained parity with the European champions, winning one against the head and losing one. 3½/5
Munster: Paul O’Connell and Dave Foley return to the Munster second row after Ireland duty which saw O’Connell critical of his own calling while the junior partner led his unit well against Georgia. In tandem the pair, backed by Peter O’Mahony should be a handful, although hooker Duncan Casey’s throwing was at times uncharacteristically off beam last week against Ulster. 3½/5
Clermont: In flanker Julien Bonnaire, Clermont have a brilliant lineout exponent but the French pack shares responsibility with a solid second row of Jamie Cudmore and Sebastien Vahaamahina as well as No. 8 Fritz Lee. They like to get their maul rolling and caused Sale plenty of problems with their defensive lineout, stealing six Sharks throws in round two. 4/5
Munster: A real area of strength for the home side this week if O’Mahony, O’Donnell and Stander can lead the charge and put the squeeze on Clermont in the tackle, slow down ball and make turnovers the way they did against Saracens in round two. 4/5
Clermont: They have been accused of a lack of intensity and Clermont conceded a try from a turnover in the tackle against Toulon last week, but, with Damien Chouly, Julien Bonnaire and Fritz Lee in their back row, they hardly represent a pushover physically and they can keep penalties to a minimum with their accuracy at the ruck. 3/5
Munster: Concerns over Ian Keatley’s kicking off the tee run deeper than last week’s disappointing effort against Ulster when the fly-half missed three of his seven attempts at goal. Against Saracens in round two on October 14, Keatley kicked 2/6 and Munster have a 60 per cent return on goal-kicking in Europe this season. Aside from Conor Murray’s solid box kicking, Munster’s tactical boots are far from perfect either and the province needs to smarten up. 3/5
Clermont: With Camille Lopez at number 10 and Brock James on the bench, Clermont have some healthy kicking options at fly-half, their success off the tee running at 77% in the competition this term.
Lopez adds a little extra with the boot, his crossfield kick against Sale unlocking the Sharks’ defence for Nalaga to score in the corner. Not overly reliant on the boot, though. 3/5
Munster: With in-form wingers in Simon Zebo and Gerhard van de Heever they have the cutting edge to emulate the intelligent lines that saw Toulon undo Clermont in a free-flowing game last week. Whether they see much of the ball is another matter, with Munster perhaps looking to their effective narrow game to grind out victory. It might not be pretty but it can get the job done. 3/5
Clermont: Joint top Champions Cup try scorers with Toulouse, thanks to four of their six tries coming at home to Sale in round two. Two of those four came off turnover ball, another came from a Camille Lopez crossfield kicked pass to Napoleon Nalaga while the other one was a wonderful flowing move off a scrum. Attack or counter-attack, Clermont can hurt teams in a number of different ways. 4/5
Munster: If there is one thing Munster cannot afford to do against the likes of Nalaga and the other big power backs it’s miss their tackles. Full-back Nick Abendanon’s stats tell the tale, having beaten more defenders (11) and gained more metres (222) than any other player in the competition this season. But Munster are resilient and in keeping both Sale and Saracens to three points apiece in those second halves, they have shown they can keep sides out for long periods. 3½/5
Clermont: The meanest defence in the Top 14 so far this season makes Frank Azema’s side formidable with or without the ball. Yet in Europe this season they have conceded 15 turnovers in two games compared to Munster’s 11 and against Toulon last week they showed they can be vulnerable in broken play. 3½/5
TOTALS: Munster: 20½/30 Clermont: 21/30
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