Reality bites for Munster, says Denis Hurley
Denis Hurley has been round the block long enough to know this will not be an easy week. Suffering successive losses to the two traditionally weakest teams in the Pro12 outside of Italy, demands a response.
And Hurley thinks Munster can go to the well and fashion a performance which will get a result in Thomond Park on Saturday evening.
“It will be a tough week but there are a few fresh bodies who weren’t involved against Dragons and hopefully they’ll have that energy ready to go into that big game next weekend.
“We know how tough a fixture it’s going to be and I suppose we’ve learned a lot of lessons again and it’s how we use it really. We know we need to respond now.
“In Europe there is a different edge to us and hopefully we’ll bring that out,” he said, after his side went down to their second biggest defeat to Dragons on Sunday when they were turned over 22-6 at Rodney Parade.
Munster will hope that centre Francis Saili and scrum-half Conor Murray will have recovered from injury to play against the Tigers, and coach Anthony Foley has not ruled them out. “They’re in recovery and hopefully we’ll see them at training during the week,” he said.
Hurley said that players know that Munster fans will expect a big response after two disappointing performances.
“They will and we understand that. Performance-wise this week we were better than last weekend. We just didn’t capitalise on what we do well. I think what we’ve put in place there’s a good chance of being able to use what we’ve done and go forward with it. The postponement of the Stade Francais game means we have back-to-back Leicester and back-to-back Stade after Christmas and there are big fixtures in between as well and we’ve got to take it week by week. Next weekend is the real focus of the squad for now. Europe is what it is and it’s always a great competition to be playing in.”
Meanwhile England centre Manu Tuilagi has ended speculation about his future by signing a new contract with Leicester.
The 24-year-old was due to be a free agent at the end of this campaign, and he had been linked with the likes of Wasps and Saracens, but the Tigers have now tied him down on a day when four of their players penned new deals.
Tuilagi’s England team-mates Ben Youngs and Freddie Burns also agreed fresh terms at Welford Road, as did the club’s captain Ed Slater.
“The Tigers has been a big part of my life and following my brothers into the team here was a very proud moment for me,” Tuilagi added.
“The club always wants to be successful, the players and coaches set very high standards and we are always looking to improve. It is a great club and I’m very settled here. The club and the supporters have been very good to me.” Prior to confirmation of Tuilagi’s deal, the 10-time Premiership champions announced a flurry of contract activity on Monday morning after sealing their fifth win of the season in their sixth league game against Worcester at the weekend. Scrum-half Youngs, whose brother Tom Youngs is also part of the squad at Welford Road, joined fly-half Burns and lock Slater in pledging his future to the club.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
