Munster hoping to continue impressive 100 percent record over Stormers
Lead Physiotherapist Damien Mordan with Peter O'Mahony.
It is 25 weeks to the day since Peter O’Mahony and Keith Earls lifted the URC trophy aloft into the Cape Town sky, much to stunned disbelief of Stormers supporters, there in their droves at DHL Stadium under the impression they were attending a home-field coronation.
There will not be the same levels of expectancy at Thomond Park this evening when Munster play host to the South African powerhouse they upset that night in a riveting Grand Final, though the returns of captain O’Mahony and fellow Ireland World Cup stars Tadgh Beirne and Conor Murray for their first outings since the 19-14 win will strengthen hopes among the faithful of extending their 100 per cent record against the Stormers to four wins from four.
There is belief too, within the Munster squad, thanks in huge part to the winning run last spring that delivered silverware for the first time in a dozen years and not even a chastening defeat at Ulster, their first of the current season, last Friday night will have dented that. Instead, it has focused minds inside the High Performance Centre that there is still plenty of work to be done before Munster can be considered the finished article, a point emphasized this week by defence coach Denis Leamy.
“We’re a work in progress,” Leamy said. “We went on a phenomenal run last year towards the end of the season that was good enough to win the championship as it was. But that would never take away from the fact that we would have felt all along, that we were a work in progress, that we’ve got a lot of areas to get better in, both on the pitch and off the pitch and in bringing through young players.
“So I don’t think that has changed. That greater opinion is definitely still there and it’s about getting consistency of performances within that. We’re a good team when we play well, there’s no doubt about that. It’s just about being consistent within that.
“We know have bits and pieces and more to be better at.” The 21-14 defeat in Belfast illustrated that last point perfectly, Munster’s fast start and a 14-3 lead inside 20 minutes gradually eroded by an Ulster side growing in confidence on the back of increasing breakdown and set-piece dominance that kept the visitors scoreless for the final hour of the game. Having captain O’Mahony and Beirne return to the starting forward pack can only help to raise standards. Yet Leamy had no regrets about the callow nature of the side that travelled north last weekend and today’s selection shows a similar sprinkling of inexperience with academy players Shay McCarthy on the wing, Edwin Edogbo set to start alongside Beirne in the second row and young hooker Chris Moore set to make his senior debut from the bench.
“It’s not ever easy and there’s a little bit of pain along the way but in the long run those players will be far better for it. You have to take that little bit of pain, it’s something that goes with it.
“We’ve already played 10 academy players this season along with a number of young players last year and if you count our squad that took the field the other day I think 18 of them were homegrown. I know some of them now are nearly as old as me when you think of Archie and John Ryan but they’re still homegrown players.
“So the fact there’s 18 homegrown Munster players within our squad, that’s strong, you know. That’s where you want to get to and increase that number. So it’s that balance of performance and winning and chasing titles and finishing positions in tables. That’s the challenge, that’s the balance and it’s fine margins.” The onus will be on all players to atone for last Friday’s errors, not just the inexperienced ones as they go head to head with the inaugural URC champions, themselves off to a tough start with two wins from four in the absence of their South African World Cup winners.
And with that Grand Final victory in Cape Town still fresh in the memory there is also the knowledge of what is possible from this squad, even if it is left unsaid.
"I think that's the lovely thing about stuff you win, you can go back there every so often and almost enjoy... you certainly don't want to be going there every day, but it's nice to go back there and know that we did that,” Leamy said. “That it's something that's there and no one can take it away.
"But there's so much more we want to achieve and get better at, that's the key thing… "It's lovely for this bunch of players, but it can't be just that. As a group, as a management, as a playing group, we need to do more and achieve more.
"That's at the forefront of our minds."
S Daly; C Nash, A Frisch, A Nankivell, S McCarthy; J Crowley, C Casey; J Loughman, S Buckley, J Ryan; E Edogbo, T Beirne; P O’Mahony - captain, J Hodnett, G Coombes.
C Moore, J Wycherley, S Archer, T Ahern, J O’Donoghue, C Murray, R Scannell, A Kendellen.
W Gelant; B Loader, R Nel, S Feinberg-Mngomezulu, L Zas; J-L du Plessis, P de Wet; S Sithole, J Dweba, N Fouche – captain; R van Heerden, G Porter; W Engelbrecht, B-J Dixon, E Roos.
A-H Venter, A Vermaak, B Harris, A Smith, K Morabe, H Jantjies, C Blommetjies, A Davids.
Sam Grove-White (Scotland).
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