Anthony Foley must find way to make Munster click again

For Munster supporters there is every reason to feel like the Grinch coming up to Christmas. Last Saturday’s Thomond Park defeat to Leicester Tigers made sure of that, writes Simon Lewis.

The province is in a pickle as they prepare for a trip to Welford Road on Sunday. Last Saturday’s 31-19 Champions Cup pool reverse to the Tigers in Limerick was their third defeat in a row following similarly poor Pro12 outings against Connacht and Newport Gwent Dragons, leaving them needing a victory on English soil to keep their European hopes on track.

Defeat would equal Munster’s worst losing run in the professional era, which came at the business end of the 2009-10 campaign that included league and European semi-final defeats.

A loss at Leicester would put a second successive elimination at the pool stage on the cards with back-to-back games against Stade Francais up next in the competition in January and the Tigers expected to match their bonus-point win at Treviso on home soil and take another leap forward at the top of Pool 4.

So far, so miserable and the knock-on effects of an early exit for Anthony Foley’s squad are hardly likely to lighten the mood.

All but the bravest and most faithful are continuing to desert the terraces and stands, the 22,261 tickets sold last Saturday night short of a sell-out in what might have been a must-buy seat for a must-see fixture at Thomond Park in better times.

And that means even less revenue for Munster Rugby, already struggling to compete with the big boys in France and increasingly England to attract new star power to the province from overseas.

Not only that, but the rise of English clubs on and off the field as genuine European players allied to the current strength of sterling against the euro means Munster and the other provinces are going to find it considerably more difficult to retain their own locally-produced talent as players understandably look to secure stronger financial futures for themselves and their loved ones.

Simon Zebo last week said security for his young family was the priority above any sentiment to his home club as he weighs offers from the Top 14 and Leinster’s Ian Madigan options are similarly broader than deciding merely to stay in Dublin or head south to Limerick. Early exits from Europe hardly strengthen the provinces’ bargaining positions.

It appears to be a house of cards teetering on the brink of collapse as the English in particular seem to be going from strength to strength this season.

There are English teams at the top of four of the five Champions Cup pools and between their six participants there have been only three defeats in 17 games, one of those in an all-English affair on Sunday at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry when Bath beat Wasps with the last kick of the game from a George Ford conversion.

Nor was Leicester’s victory at Munster the most impressive success for Premiership clubs over the weekend. Saracens trounced Oyonnax in France but the English performance of the week was by Exeter Chiefs, who came from behind at Sandy Park to stun French big guns ASM Clermont Auvergne.

The once all-conquering Irish are currently bit-part players. Ulster are still alive and kicking having made amends for a round two loss at home to Saracens with their impressive 31-0 win over Toulouse — the first time the four-time champions have been blanked in 147 European matches — but Leinster are already out having lost their first three games and Munster’s survival is hanging by a thread.

Head coach Foley has to find a way to get his team to click once more having dominated the Tigers for long periods at Thomond Park only to concede what he described post-match as “probably three of the softest tries I’ve ever conceded or watched get conceded”.

And that is the frustrating thing for Munster and their supporters. That their European fate and all that lies beyond does not even rest with Leicester but back on the training ground.