Resurgent Munster getting energy from defence
ENERGISED: Munster defence coach Denis Leamy. Pic: INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Munster’s storied history in European cup rugby has often taken a memorable turn in the company of Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup visitors to Thomond Park so it would be fitting if this latest brush with Northampton Saints were to mark another staging post in the current team’s development.
These two outfits have been locking horns on and off for 23 years now, dating back to both sides’ debuts in the Heineken Cup final, the 2000 decider at Twickenham that the English team edged 9-8 but Munster arguably took more from, their love affair with the competition and a quest to lift the trophy forged in the white heat of disappointment that late January day.
This week’s trip down memory lane took us back to 2011, with antagonists from both camps recalling the nail-biting final minutes when Saints hung on defiantly to a 21-20 lead in Limerick only for the home side to create the mother of all scene stealers with a 41-phase build-up to Ronan O’Gara’s game-winning drop goal.
Now Munster defence coach, Denis Leamy remembered his “Hail Mary” pass to O’Gara for that overtime kick as he looked forward to Northampton’s first time back at Thomond Park since that night but it is the prospect of what is possible from this current, fast-improving crop of Munstermen that excites the former back-rower most these days.
Leamy has seen them ride the storm of early-season setbacks, learn the lessons from a challenging reboot under first-season head coach Graham Rowntree and now appear to have come out the other side of the ordeal with genuine cause for optimism. Certainly he feels the pieces are beginning to fall into place and while there is still a long way to go before this Munster side can be considered the finished article in terms of challenging for silverware, the evolving performances of late suggest they are heading in the right direction.
“I'm really impressed with the lads,” Leamy said. “We tried to change an awful lot, we put an awful lot on them, we train very differently, playing (with) a different type of mentality and gameplan. It would put huge stress on you (as a player).
“All the while you're trying to win games against decent outfits. We had some disappointing days earlier in the season in Wales, no doubt, we weren't perfect against Zebre, but we would have felt by that stage we were seeing loads of good stuff in training.
“The jigsaw is starting to come together, and you've seen that over the last couple of weeks in terms of what's happened. We just had to keep the faith with the lads. Over the last few weeks they've been fantastic, particularly some of the younger lads who wouldn't have had many caps six months ago. A lot of those guys have stepped up and been exceptional.”
Munster’s victory in Northampton on the weekend before Christmas was one of the fantastic, confidence-boosting victories on the road that gives grounds for excitement, even if elements of the performance did not. Despite failing to kick on from a 17-6 half-time lead as well as conceding 18 penalties and three yellow cards as Saints hammered away at the visitors’ tryline for almost the entire second half at Franklin’s Gardens, Munster emerged victorious, keeping the normally free-scoring Premiership side tryless for the first time on home soil in 11 months.
While Leamy admitted he would rather not see his defensive systems come under such rigorous scrutiny any time soon, particularly at home, he recognised the benefits to morale that such a successful rearguard action can bring.
“We get great energy from defending. Before I took the job (last summer) and was in talks, someone in the group said that the boys love defending. I thought it was interesting, and that was always in the back of my mind over the last couple of months.
“They do love defending, they get energised, they work really hard from that point of view. They get massive energy, against the Lions and against the Bulls, Northampton, when we shut out a really good attack, you get massive energy. We feed off it and hope we can bring it into other elements of our play.
“It's a massive part of our game, how we can rob a little bit from teams when they come at us, and take a bit off them, or demoralise them. That's the plan. It's growing, we're not perfect, we need to get better, but we're getting there.”
The same can be applied to all aspects of Munster’s game with different opponents posing new problems on an almost weekly basis. If Saints asked fresh question of their defence last month, last week’s 33-3 BKT URC win over the Lions saw the South Africans exert intense scrum pressure on a young front row.
The lessons keep coming and Leamy sees plenty of room for improvement as an opportunity rather than problem.
“There's huge scope to improve and that's the really exciting thing. There's a lot of squads out there who are pitching at somewhere near their best. I feel going into February, there's loads in us, there's more in us. We have ground to make up, and have a lot of big games to win. But if we're at the business end of this season, we'll be excited about that.”
A win on Saturday will see Munster edge closer to extending their stay in the Champions Cup into the knockout stages. With a testing trip to Toulouse next week for the final Pool B fixture looming large they would do well to complete their mission ahead of schedule on home soil.
Northampton, without a win in Europe after two pool rounds, have continued their inconsistent form in the Premiership since their home defeat to Munster, hammering Harlequins 46-17 on January 1 then losing 35-12 at Exeter Chiefs last weekend.
This will be Saints’ third visit to Thomond Park and they are looking for a first victory in Limerick. O’Gara’s late, late match-winning drop goal may have been a kick for the ages but Munster will not want to leave things so late this time around.
M Haley; C Nash, A Frisch, J Crowley, S Daly; J Carbery, C Casey; D Kilcoyne, N Scannell, R Salanoa; J Kleyn, T Beirne; J O’Donoghue, P O’Mahony - captain, G Coombes.
S Buckley, J Wycherley, J Ryan, J Hodnett, A Kendellen, P Patterson, R Scannell, L Coombes.
G Furbank; T Freeman; M Proctor, R Hutchinson, J Ramm; F Smith, A Mitchell; A Waller, M Haywood, P Hill; D Ribbans, A Moon; L Salakaia-Loto, C Lawes, L Ludlam – captain.
R Smith, E Waller, A Petch, A Coles, A Scott-Young, C Braley, F Dingwall, C Skosan.
Tual Trainini (France).
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