Andrew Conway: Time for players to stand up for Munster
After an early European exit from the Champions Cup and a league campaign that will leave Anthony Foley’s side as the fourth-ranked province in Ireland, regardless of the outcome of tomorrow’s Thomond Park finale against Scarlets, there is still plenty at stake for Munster in Limerick.
Beat Scarlets and the sixth place in the Guinness Pro12 table it will secure will guarantee top-flight European rugby for a 21st consecutive season with entry into the 2016-17 Champions Cup pool draw.
And after the trials and tribulations of the current campaign, wing Conway said it was down to individuals on the team to stand up and make their mark.
Conway was named man-of-the-match last weekend as Munster put their European destiny back in their own hands with a bonus-point win over Edinburgh in Cork that lifted them back up to sixth place with a game to go.
Now the players have to record another win to see off their rivals Ospreys and Edinburgh.
“It does come down to us. We cannot always look to CJ Stander, (Conor) Murray or (Keith) Earls. It is the experienced lads who are performing week in, week out. That load needs to be shared,” Conway said. “Hopefully, I can step up again. Hopefully, 14 others players can step up and have their best game of the season too. That is what you are looking for. Obviously that doesn’t happen too consistently, where everyone has a great game, but that is what you are trying to do.
“If we can get 10-plus lads having their best games of the season, then you are in a good place. If I am playing well, it probably means the person next to me is playing well too, and if someone else is playing well inside me, then it makes my job easier on the outside.”
Conway accepts that Scarlets will be no pushovers, particularly as they need a win in Limerick to try and reel in Ulster, a point ahead of them in fourth place, to secure a PRO12 semi-final berth.
“Scarlets are a brilliant team. If you watch them consistently, they can score tries from everywhere. They have got some of the best Welsh backs in the game. In my opinion, Liam Williams is one of the best players in Europe at the moment. Scott Williams makes a massive impression when he is in the game. They have a really good back row who are all over your ball. We are going to have to be on our A game to compete with them. We are looking forward to it, though.
“We had a good win on Friday (in Musgrave Park). There are a few defensive things that we need to touch up on though. It is going to be a good game.”
For Conway and the rest of Munster’s back three, there will be big pressure not to commit the errors that could be punished by Scarlets.
“Balls going down, knock ons, it allows them to attack you. That is what they live off and they live off of it fairly handsomely. They are a dangerous team. Our focus is to stop that at source. If kicks are loose, we need to shut that down for a few phases and make sure we do not give them an open field.”
Having played much of the season at full-back following the injury-enforced retirement of Felix Jones, Conway has had to readjust to life on the wing in the last month as Simon Zebo has continued his good Six Nations form for Ireland in Munster’s number 15 jersey.
After initial teething problems moving onto the wing in the defeat at Leinster, Conway was stood down for the Connacht defeat but rebounded in style last week against Edinburgh.
“I talked to Joe (Schmidt) up in (Ireland Six Nations) camp and he said he’d seen me as winger that can cover full-back so you take the positives from it.
“I had been playing at 15 and enjoying 15 so when you go back there it is a slight change. I probably didn’t respect the change as much as I should have and didn’t sit myself down to go ‘right I need to concentrate myself on different roles’ and then I got dropped for the Connacht week. It wasn’t a great start being back to the wing but then I enjoyed there Friday night.”
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