Jean de Villiers and Alan Quinlan expecting different Munster and Stormers sides for rematch
DIFFERING TEAMS: Jean de Villiers. Pic: David Rogers/Getty Images
URC Grand Final rematch it may be when Munster host the Stormers at Thomond Park in their first meeting since last May’s title decider in Cape Town but Jean de Villiers and Alan Quinlan both see two very different outfits set to clash this Saturday evening.
The South African and the Irishman, Munster team-mates when the World Cup-winning Springbok centre graced Thomond Park for a season in 2009-10, have witnessed less than imposing starts to the new season from the 2022-23 finalists as they close in on this weekend’s URC round-five meeting.
The Stormers, for whom de Villiers played the majority of his career, won their opening two games in South Africa, at the Emirates Lions and home to the Scarlets but have lost the first couple of outings on their four-match trip north of the Equator, at Glasgow and Benetton.
Munster also found the going hard in Italy in round two when they rescued a draw at Benetton, and succumbed to their first defeat of the campaign last Friday night at Ulster.
With 2023-24 getting underway during the latter stages of the World Cup, both teams began the season short-handed and while Ireland’s internationals have been returning to action with their provinces since round three, the 2023 champion Springboks are still absent from their teams, a point the South African feels could be pivotal this Saturday.
“As we’ve seen with this competition, it’s really hard to get victories away from home, especially if you’re travelling to or from South Africa and the Stormers have found that to be particularly hard this year,” de Villiers said during a URC round table with Quinlan yesterday.
“The losses of Stephen Kitshoff (to Ulster), Salmaan Moerrat (injured) and a couple of others has really neutralised the strengths of the Stormers, which was the set phases, scrum-wise and from a lineout point of view, Marvin Orie (to Montpellier) is another one that’s left the Union.
“So they’ve found it tough and the experience they’re lacking with their Boks not being back yet makes it difficult for them to get victories. So Thomond Park and playing Munster at home is a tough task for any team.
“Not that Munster has been playing brilliant rugby, they’ve been pretty, I suppose you could call it average in a way but they’ve managed to get a couple of wins and I think just in terms of where these two teams are at, it will be really difficult to see a Stormers victory.”
Former Munster and Ireland back-rower Quinlan believes his province need to quickly regroup following their 21-14 defeat in Belfast.
“Munster are under a fair bit of pressure,” he said. “It’s a tough place to go (Thomond Park) but Munster are in a bit of a precarious position at the moment because they’re feeding back in a couple of internationals, they have a couple of injuries and they will have been really disappointed for the way they played against Ulster on Friday night for the vast majority of that game.
“They started the game really well, first 20 minutes, 14-3 up, and then didn’t really fire a shot until the last five minutes of the game. They were absorbing a lot of pressure from Ulster, their set-piece malfunctioned, their breakdown was poor, their attack was really poor and that’s something that actually put them in a position to win the trophy last year, the way they attacked and played as a whole.
“You get that in rugby, It’s very early season for all the teams, there’s a bit of rust and the bedding in of players but no better place than to go back home to try and get a result. It does bring a bit of added pressure for sure and the Stormers are going to be very physical and if Munster are going to be second best in the physical stakes they’ll be under pressure.
“I’d be really disappointed if they didn’t improve dramatically this week.”
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