Munster up and running now Rowntree seeks improvement for Leinster trip
STAR MAN: Joey Carbery of Munster beats the tackle of WJ Steenkamp of Vodacom Bulls on the way to setting up his side's third try during the URC match at Thomond Park in Limerick. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
The world will seem a much better place to Graham Rowntree and the entire Munster Rugby organisation this morning following this morale-boosting victory over the South African heavyweights, and why not?
After their miserable start to this BKT United Rugy Championship campaign which brought three defeats in the first four matches and invited intense scrutiny of the new head coach, his recently assembled backroom staff and the players he inherited from the previous incumbent, a win of any shade on Saturday night would have delivered much-needed relief.
So to have emerged victorious over last season’s inaugural URC finalists and eventual runners-up with a try bonus point and a performance that bore little resemblance to the error-strewn, ill-disciplined and toothless fudge that had characterised those opening games of 2022-23 will have had Rowntree and company smelling the roses on their way into the High Performance Centre at the University of Limerick.
Whether that floral aroma will have followed them through the door is another matter as the coaching team turns its focus towards a trip to Aviva Stadium and this Saturday’s round-six appointment with Leinster but the 36 hours that followed the final whistle at Thomond Park will have felt pretty good.
Munster are up and running at last. Rowntree’s first win as head coach, over Zebre Parma in Cork in round three, proved to be a false dawn, followed as it was by a bullying from Connacht at The Sportsground. Yet this victory on Munster’s return to Thomond Park had a touch of the corner-turning statement about it.
A complete performance it was not, as Rowntree conceded. It was a nervy start to proceedings as the rain fell and a crowd of 12,218 faithful watched with foreboding as the initial forays into Bulls territory were undone with the sort of errors that pockmarked previous losses.
“We weren’t perfect, so there is improvement required,” the head coach said. “We will have to be even more clinical around some of our lineout possession. I’m confident we can put pressure on any team if we can keep the ball when we are in their 22.
“Factually, we are very good with limited minutes, we can score tries. That has been a big focus. But we have to be better, we know that.”
Yet this young Munster side found a way out of their problems to approach this game with an intensity, spirit and accuracy not previously seen this season. That all four tries were scored by forwards from close range – two in the first half by Gavin Coombes, one apiece from Jeremy Loughman and Tadhg Beirne after the interval - could give the impression of a group of players reverting to type from seasons past.
However, this was a night when for the first time consistently we saw glimpses of the direction of travel under attack coach Mike Prendergast.
Ironically given the greasy conditions, the handling errors of recent weeks were left behind and Joey Carbery, starting at 10 for the first time this term, began to orchestrate some fluent passages of possession that got the ball to his back three on the edges as much as possible.
Munster deserved their 17-3 half-time lead and having emerged unscathed from a sustained period of Bulls possession inside the home 22 they extended their advantage through Loughman’s determination to chase down a clever kick inside from the touchline hugging Carbery, forcing an error from replacement fly-half Chris Smith that gifted the loosehead prop the most unlikely of tries.
“Ridiculous,” Rowntree said of the score by his fellow member of the front-row union. “He took it well. I said to him: ‘You’ll never score a try like that again’.”
Smith’s slip under pressure was the stroke of fortune Munster had been denied in the opening weeks but this was one of those nights when everything started to come together for Rowntree’s men on both sides of the ball.
Beirne’s try on 61 minutes delivered the bonus point with Carbery’s fourth successful conversion adding to his opening penalty kick to make it a perfect night off the tee for the fly half.
That the Bulls replied with three second-half tries may have seen an implosion but instead it led to another successful defensive rearguard in the closing minutes and Rowntree savoured a performance that finally showcased the hard work done on the training ground since he succeeded former boss Johann van Graan in pre-season and brought in Mike Prendergast (attack), Denis Leamy (defence) and Andi Kyriacou (forwards) as his assistants.
A similarly slow start will not suffice at the Aviva on Saturday, that is for sure, but the head coach was satisfied with his players’ ability to problem-solve on the hoof.
“We’ve got to be better, haven’t we?” Rowntree said. “We keep striving for perfection but it’s good to see what we’ve been doing in training coming out on the field.
“…Composure, stay calm, next job focus. But you only get that when you’re comfortable being uncomfortable and that comes from your training. And that’s what we’re doing now, more than ever - making them uncomfortable, so they’ve got to have that composure: right, next? Fix that. Next job?”
Of course, this is not end of Munster’s troubles, not with the next job coming in the form of unbeaten league leaders Leinster but perhaps Ulster's visit to Thomond Park on October 29 in the last URC round before the international window will represent a more relevant yardstick of Munster’s progress.
For now, though, Rowntree must contemplate his selection issues for the Dublin trip. He had lost academy star and starting full-back Patrick Campbell to illness before kick-off and then saw Calvin Nash succumb to a first-half injury that saw the wing removed at half-time to further narrow his back-three selection options while the head coach revealed rising back-row star Alex Kendellen, stood down following a concussion on the opening day at Cardiff, would be kept out of the firing line until next month.
It was too soon to assess Nash’s availability, Rowntree said, nor the status of more senior back-three players Andrew Conway, Keith Earls and Simon Zebo, as they continue their recoveries from injury.
Of that experienced international trio, he added: “There’s a lot going on. I have a sit down with the medics at 10.30 every Monday morning which I’m always anxious about because I know how good the week is going to be by their faces walking into the office.
“We’ll see. There’s a lot of things in the mix. They’re not ruled out by any means.”
P Campbell; C Nash (J Crowley, h-t), M Fekitoa, D Goggin, S Daly; J Carbery, C Casey (C Murray, 57); J Loughman (D Kilcoyne, 52), N Scannell (D Barron, 52), S Archer (R Salanoa, 52); J Kleyn, E Edogbo (T Ahern, 52); T Beirne (J O’Donoghue, 73), P O’Mahony – captain (J Hodnett, 63), G Coombes.
K-L Arendse; C Hendricks (D Kriel, h-t), L Mapoe, H Vorster, W Simelane; J Goosen (C Smith, h-t), E Papier (Z Burger, 68); S Matanzima (D Smith 56), J-H Wessels (B Du Plessis, 56), M Smith; W Steenkamp (R Vermaak, 66), R Nortje; M Coetzee – captain (M Van Staden, 59), WJ Steenkamp (J van Rooyen, 54-57), E Louw.
Yellow card: M Smith 47-57.
M Adamson (Scotland)
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