Niall Scannell impressed by ‘high-energy’ Graham Rowntree
Niall Scannell has not had too much time in the company of new forwards coach Graham Rowntree but the Ireland hooker is both impressed by what he has seen and excited about the potential for the Munster pack under his guidance.
Scannell, 27, is just two games into his Munster 2.0 experience having the spent the summer and first two months of the new campaign on Ireland duty as part of the World Cup squad.
He has returned to a Munster squad reinvigorated by the addition of both senior coach Stephen Larkham, and Rowntree, the former Leicester, England, and Lions coach, both of whom have been tasked with helping
Johann van Graan take the province to the next level.
This Saturday’s Thomond Park clash will be the first litmus test of their early impact in those positions as European heavyweights Racing 92 come to Limerick for an eagerly-anticipated Heineken Champions Cup Pool 4 clash.
The way the Parisians dismantled a weakened Saracens side at La Défense Arena last Sunday in a 30-10 blowout against the defending champions has given Munster plenty of pause for thought but having played them five times in the last three season, including a 27-22 defeat in the 2018 semi-final, their power-packed performance and
lineout dominance came as no surprise to Scannell.
“When you watch them, some of their stuff looks so simple, but they’re so effective at it,” the hooker said. “They’re just such a strong and athletic pack and they’re clinical, they don’t cough up the ball a lot and their lineout ... obviously Donnacha (Ryan) has had a huge imprint on their lineout, we’ve spoken about that and it’s going to be a huge challenge for us.
“I think scrum-wise, their scrummaging at the moment has been hugely dominant and even the front row that they’re bringing on is making a big impact, so from a scrum point of view, particularly from me, it’s where I’m going to be focusing a lot of my energy this week and making sure we’re fully prepped there.” The Munster pack will also be buoyed by their performance in the bonus-point, pool-opening victory they helped to secure at Ospreys last Saturday in Swansea, the fourth and final try at the death coming off a perfectly-executed lineout, and driving maul to get James Cronin over the line.
It was an encouraging first European outing under the new regime and Scannell is embracing the changes with relish.
“To start off it’s just hugely exciting to work with two new coaches and Steve’s attacking philosophy is a bit different, that’s obviously been exciting.
“But don’t get me wrong, that first week (back from the World Cup) when we played Ulster, it was tough to get to grips with within a week because there are a lot of subtle differences there and that was tough.
“I think it was only last week that I was starting to feel a bit more comfortable in it and I think we still have a huge way to go with it in terms of expanding that attacking philosophy that he has.
“And obviously with Graeme, as a front row, that’s exciting, having a fella who is a legend of the game like that, just to get nuggets off.
“I obviously worked with Jerry (Flannery, Rowntree’s predecessor) since I was very young and I got a lot off Jerry, and I can’t thank him enough for all that he’s given me, but it is exciting to have a new voice.
“I’ve had Jerry and I’ve had Feeky (former Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek), and I think it’s good just to get a few more nuggets of information in the scrum. It’s something, obviously, that he loves and it’s a bit of a different energy, a different flavour, around the place, which is good to have.” The hooker likes the way former Leicester loosehead Rowntree goes about his business.
“He hasn’t climbed into (a scrum) yet but we’re still in the honeymoon phase,” Scannell joked. “But he is hands on, he’s high energy, which is brilliant, and he’s a good character.
“He made us feel very at ease straight away. The first thing he asked me when I introduced myself to him was, ‘What’s your nickname?’.
“He wants to just get in amongst the lads and get to know you, which I think is brilliant and it’s a good sign of a coach that he wants to get to know the person as well, which is hugely exciting.
“It’s been three weeks now or whatever so I’m sure there’s a lot more he wants to bring in to our scrum as well. Hopefully that will keep progressing the way that it is.
“He’s just good craic, which is refreshing to have. We have our front row meetings with the ‘scrum connoisseurs’, as he calls us, which is a new term that’s a bit more flattering than what the backs call us anyway, so at least we have someone fighting our corner as well!
“No, it’s been all good so far and I’m sure from a rugby point of view there’s much more that he wants to implement as the weeks go on, and I’m excited to see that as well.”
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