Time for Munster to stand up and fight again
European Champions Cup Pool 3
Today: Allianz Park, 1pm
TV: BT Sport
These last-ditch affairs are no good for the nerves but the number of times we have seen the province hold theirs means you can never dismiss it happening again.
That late Duncan Casey try and Ian Keatley conversion at Clermont Auvergne last month to seal a losing bonus point kept Anthony Foley’s side alive in Pool One heading into this penultimate group game and offered a glimpse of hope.
But they need something more substantial to remain in the hunt for a quarter-final berth that has eluded Munster just once in the last 15 seasons, and there are plenty of places other than Saracens’ Allianz Park you would rather see them go in search of it.
That, however, is out of their hands, and Munster have to find a way to grab the victory that will sustain them in this competition going into the final pool game against Sale Sharks at home tomorrow week.
Saracens have every justification for feeling they are favourites yet Munster have beaten them once already this season, shutting them down in a 16-3 victory at Thomond Park in round two, and head coach Foley feels a similar performance will do just fine in this return fixture on an artificial 4G pitch.
“The first game against Saracens was as good as Munster have played this season in terms of how we controlled the game and how we went about it and how we didn’t flinch,” said Foley.
“Sometimes you can unfortunately get bored of what is working and try something else but we stayed on task and we ended up with a good result. Something similar will be needed for the weekend.”
There lies the rub. Munster have at times this season resembled a struggling golfer desperately looking to rediscover the swing that delivered the killer round.
And even when it has been found and the swing thoughts are paying dividends, they have strangely deserted them at key moments, not least in the second halves of games.
Foley therefore requires an increase in Munster resolve if he is going to get anything close to the performance needed to defeat Saracens a second time this season, and he appears to have picked a team with that in mind.
A strong pack featuring all his go-to players is boosted by the return to fitness of James Cronin at loose-head prop but the loss of a world-class talent like Conor Murray would be a blow to any team while the spark that Keith Earls can provide out wide will be kept under wraps on the bench.
Murray’s absence will mean his replacement Duncan Williams is given a chance to continue his best campaign to date, although there is no scrum-half back-up on the bench and it is understood fly-half Ian Keatley will switch inside if a plan B is required, with JJ Hanrahan coming off the bench to take over at 10.
Hanrahan’s demotion to the bench sees him replaced by Denis Hurley at inside centre as Foley looks for some of the midfield physicality that helped fell the likes of Leinster and indeed Saracens during a purple patch in October.
For as Foley sees it, while that win over the English side was by the largest margin in six meetings to date, this encounter will once again be decided by the finest of margins.
“Taking their strengths away from them,” was the head coach’s reply when asked how Munster would win today.
“If we can play to our strengths and even go back to the game in Round 2 where it was on a knife edge for the vast majority of the game — it took their prop (Rhys Gill) to get sin-binned to really turn the game.
“So that is where the game is at and I can’t remember any more than a score between the sides any time we met in Europe. Even back to the 1999-2000 season, they were down to kicks. That is the way they are and it is about being on the right side of that.”
Gill’s early second-half sin-binning and the way Saracens unravelled following that yellow card was what essentially settled the first encounter this season and the English Premiership side’s disciplinary record has cost them in other matches as well this season.
It might again be the deciding factor if Munster keep their heads and Saracens start to lose theirs. That might be all it takes.
Munster won’t mind.
Winning and staying alive is all that matters.
* After their win in Round 2, Munster have now got the better of Saracens on five of the six occasions the clubs have met.
* The last game between the clubs generated the largest winning margin (11 points), before that the average winning margin had been just three points.
* Saracens’ Jamie George is the tournament’s top tackler this season missing just two of his 60 attempted tackles.
* Saracens, along with Harlequins, have allowed the fewest clean breaks in the tournament, conceding just 14 to date.
* Munster can claim their 100th win in Europe’s top flight if they win on Saturday. Toulouse, who managed their 100th win in Round 3, are the only club to win a century of games.
* The meeting in Round 2 saw just four clean breaks shared between the two sides; only one match has had fewer clean breaks (2 – Glasgow Warriors v Toulouse).
* Munster’s CJ Stander (59) has made the second most carries in the tournament so far this season.
* Saracens have beaten fewer defenders than any other team in the tournament — 43 in their four games so far.
* The English club have conceded the fewest turnovers (42) in the competition this season.
* Munster have stolen the joint-most lineouts (11) to date.
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