You've got to turn the page' - Casey not dwelling on Leinster defeat 

MOVING ON: Craig Casey of Munster after his side's defeat in the United Rugby Championship match between Munster and Leinster at Thomond Park. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Craig Casey is confident Munster can stay next-job-focused as they prepare for their New Year’s Day game at Ulster rather than dwell on last Monday’s narrow Leinster defeat.

The 20-19 St Stephen’s night loss at Thomond Park was a bitter pill to swallow as the Reds failed to find a way to first hold onto the 14-6 lead they had taken just after half-time and then press on in search of the game-clinching points after a Patrick Campbell try 17 minutes from full-time had left Munster trailing by what proved to be a winning margin for Leinster.

The defeat checked Munster’s climb up the BKT URC table after a turnaround in form over the previous eight weeks and Casey’s side remain in 11th place as they prepare to start 2023 in Belfast playing third-placed Ulster, although only four points separate them from Cardiff in fifth place.

Yet the scrum-half acknowledged that a sixth league defeat of the campaign after 10 of the 18 regular-season rounds means Munster must travel north in search of victory and that there is little time to lick the wounds sustained last Monday night.

“Every interpro is huge,” Casey said. "You see how much it means to both teams. Going up to Ulster is always a huge scalp. We will look forward to it. We will dissect ourselves… take the learnings and crack on to the week.

“You’ve got to turn the page quickly these days because they are coming thick and fast and every game is massive, they are all must-wins. We will take our learnings and get excited for Sunday.” A livewire on the pitch, Casey’s enthusiasm for the challenge resonated just as much off it as he discussed dealing with the additional mental burdens when victory is essential.

“Every week you put the pressure on yourself, don't you, to get better and perform. With interpros there is always an extra bit of pressure on you but they are the moments you live for.

“I mean if we had won that game tonight, the pressure is nothing really, you show you can play under pressure. We lost by a point, but the pressure is there every week. You put yourself under that pressure as a player. I don't think anyone else puts you under that pressure.” 

That internal pressure ramped up the minute last Monday’s full-time whistle had blown and Casey described the frustration he and his team-mates experienced in the home dressing room post-match and the need for the squad to deliver improvements on that St Stephen’s night performance, not least the failure to launch a meaningful attack following Campbell’s 63rd-minute try.

“It is tough. You get in your little groups, your player groups and you kind of dissect what has happened.

“We came into the changing room, the coaches and Wig (head coach Graham Rowntree) talked. I think everything was said, it is a hard one, like. You get close but that is never enough.

“We will … look at what learnings we can take. I think we do that every week and you can see the progress that we are making. It is no consolation now just after the defeat.

“We were attacking at one stage around the 50 and then we knock on a ball. Jamie Osborne, in fairness, throws an unbelievable offload and I don't think we got out of our 50 from there on in, so obviously hugely frustrating.

“They are the moments that we need to be better at. We will look at that and see what we could have done better and learn from it. I mean that is all you can do now. We can't change the result right now, but we can only get better.”