Munster’s Niall Scannell ready to answer call

Niall Scannell admits it made for tough viewing.

Munster may have come away with the win from a wet and wild Sportsgrounds last Saturday but the 24-year old had been relieved from the front line for the occasion and could only sit and watch as Rhys Marshall stepped into the breach against Connacht.

Which the Kiwi did, with aplomb.

“You are always a little bit nervous with the talent we have around here at hooker,” said Scannell. “Rhys played very well at the weekend, particularly from a lineout point of view.

“They were horrendous conditions and he performed well and his tackle count was through the roof.

“I wasn’t surprised by that at all, to be honest. He is a quality player. There are so many of them in my position it is always in your thought process when there is someone else starting. You have to keep your eye in there, as you might not be back in the team.”

That may be so but it was the lack of fit hookers that propelled Scannell into the number two jersey just over a year ago when Mike Sherry’s elongated injury nightmare struck again and Duncan Casey went down with a pectoral problem in the same Champions Cup game against Treviso in Limerick.

In stepped Scannell the following week and he went on to feature in every Munster game between then and Galway six days ago: a remarkable, unbroken run of 35 appearances with the vast majority of them as a starter thanks to his own form and Sherry’s ongoing injury.

Scannell waves away the suggestion but it is safe to say he will feature prominently again this week as Munster make the trip to Paris, not least because he is one of the 15 who have started all three of the province’s Champions Cup games so far this term.

He is by no means the finished article but progress has been obvious and multi- faceted. Sherry admitted last summer he spent 80% of his time focusing on his lineout throwing when he first broke into the team. His confidence has swelled and rippled enough for that ratio to drop significantly and he has filled the extra time with work on other facets of his game.

He has sought to expand his influence over the ball at the breakdown and to utilise his obvious physicality elsewhere, Jacques Nienaber has improved his defence by simplifying his approach from one of eyeing up two or three attackers to that of just getting off the line and making a hit.

“I think that’s the main attribute to my game at the moment, just my size and my physicality. The more I can display that, hopefully the better I will perform.”

The long-term goal is to earn full international honours. Younger brother Rory has already walked the halls of Ireland’s team HQ at Carton House and Niall admits his sibling is probably “ahead by a nose” in that particular race. Games like tomorrow’s can propel them further up their respective queues.

“All I can really do is perform. These games, like this weekend, are the big ones where you can put your hand up against international standard players and show you can perform.

“That is why you have to grab the Champions Cup games, the interpros, that is what I have been trying to do.”

His first taste of European rugby in France was the 27-7 loss to Stade Francais in Paris 12 months ago. The memory of the distress experienced by the visitors’ scrum that day remains a sore one, though the last trip to the French capital, in October, surpasses that considerably.

Scannell clearly doesn’t believe this is a visit that can provide any sort of closure. Like so many of his colleagues, he thinks of Anthony Foley in all sorts of ways and at different times and that won’t change soon. For him, it’s when he makes a mistake and he imagines how his former coach would “hammer” him for it.

“I think it was Felix Jones who said it to me getting on the plane in Paris (three months ago): “this will probably always be the thing you think of when you come to Paris, forever more”.

And that is probably true. So it is just about focusing on the rugby side of things now and performing at the weekend.

“That is the most important thing now. We need to make the performance a tribute to the occasion as opposed to letting it bog us down.”