Scannell expects big rise in intensity as Reds seek lift

By Charlie Mulqueen

‘Mixed’ would be a kind word to describe Munster’s early season form in the Guinness PRO14. The value of two wins over weak opposition in the Cheetahs and Ospreys has been more than offset by embarrassingly heavy defeats to Glasgow and Cardiff. That is why fans are apprehensive as their side faces into two interprovincial ties, against Ulster and Leinster, followed by the commencement of the European Cup in the coming weeks.

“It’s obviously an exciting block we’re going into,” acknowledged Munster centre Rory Scannell.

“They’re the games you want to be playing in. I’m sure there will be a big lift in intensity and having the international lads feeding back in over the last few weeks has also been exciting. It’s looking like we have a pretty strong squad going into these games. It’s quite a tough block, but we’re not looking past Ulster on Saturday night. They’re the only unbeaten team in the league this season, with a draw last weekend and three wins before that. We’re solely concentrating on getting a good performance and hopefully getting a win.”

Scannell and company appreciate just how impressively Ulster have got their act together after the turmoil of last season.

New coach Dan McFarland knows Thomond Park well, the challenge it presents and how much a win there would mean to his side.

“They had a few good signings and you could almost call Marcell Coetsee a new signing, he’s been playing really well since coming back from injury, and Billy Burns, John Cooney and Will Addison are also flying since the start of the season, so they have threats all over the park,” warns 24-year-old Scannell. “They look to have been their key players for the last few weeks and I’m sure that will be no different on Saturday. Jordi Murphy is also coming back into the side, so we definitely have a tough task ahead.

“Moving from Connacht to Ulster has been a great move for Cooney. He has really kicked on. To be getting regular starts at nine has obviously been massive for him. He has great place-kick ability and we’ll have to be wary of that as well. Hopefully, our discipline will be better than last week.”

Given the ease of the victories over Cheetahs and Ospreys and the quality of much of their play, the failure to kick on against a Cardiff side enjoying their first wins of the season has been hard for coaches and players alike to explain.

“We went out in the first half against Glasgow and it wasn’t up to scratch and we left ourselves chasing the game,” said Scannell. “Then, at the weekend we were in a fairly good place at half-time, just 14-13 behind, but we lost the second half 23-0, which is most unlike us. We had too many unforced errors, forward passes, dropped balls. The delivery from our set piece wasn’t as good as it has been in the last few games and then around 55 minutes we started giving away penalties and a kicker like Anscombe will knock them over all day, but I don’t think our confidence is down at all. We know the performances we are capable of. A lot of the mistakes in Cardiff were in our control and once we brush them up a bit we’re very capable of a quality performance. Personally, it’s going quite well, three games under the belt, even though it would be better if we had a few more wins,” he said.