Munster rested and ready to hit the ground running again against Scarlets

“The break couldn’t have come at a better time, just to rest the bodies and get a mental break as well," Mike Prendergast says. 

POINTING THE WAY: Munster attack coach Mike Prendergast at UL this week. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

There were two ways to look at the approaching time off when Munster capped an encouraging January run on the pitch by accounting for Dragons at Rodney Parade in the URC.

The wins against Saracens and the Welsh region were far from perfect but points of any manner were not to be sneezed at after the season the province had had to date. And the display in defeat away to Northampton Saints in between had plenty going for it, too.

Look at it that way and the three-week break between Dragons then and Scarlets in Thomond Park on Saturday night wasn’t exactly what the doctor ordered. An injury list bursting at the seams makes for a persuasive counter argument.

Munster did most of their good work against the Dragons before four injuries and a rejigged backline leaked some rough edges into their work. Attack coach Mike Prendergast certainly wasn’t carping when the few weeks in abeyance kicked in.

“The break couldn’t have come at a better time, just to rest the bodies and get a mental break as well. And when you come off a five-pointer, and that feelgood factor is there when you’re heading away for the week and you come in on the Monday and you can feel it, there’s a good vibe. Then you look at the [next] game.

“We’re playing a team that’s one point ahead of us and it makes it interesting. Bodies been rested and there’s another two or three weeks to allow a couple of lads to come back from our injury list, which is exciting. There’s a few due back over the next couple of weeks as well hopefully.” 

Josh Wycherley is the most immediate of the returnees. The only change to the XV that faced the Dragons, he starts in the front row against Scarlets here. It will be his first run in four months after a bad neck injury in training.

Tom Ahern is the sole returnee from Ireland duties as Munster again lean on a younger core. Full-back Ben O’Connor is one of three academy players in the 23 while it’s another big opportunity for scrum-half Ethan Coughlan.

The Ennis RFC man has already started against an All Blacks XV and Leinster this season and Prendergast was left impressed by what he thought to be the player’s best display yet against the Dragons late last month.

“He has a good temperament as well. He’s technically a very good player, his pass and his kicking is very good and it’s something that suits us and his ceiling is quite high. He’s a very calm lad and it doesn’t seem to faze him, the bigger games.” 

The Scarlets are a very different side to the one that finished 13th last season, their five wins to date already equalling the number managed through 18 games last time round. Prendergast noted plenty of different areas of improvement.

The visitors are ranked fifth in the URC defensively, they have the best lineout in the league, and they ally those with a strong maul, a heavy kicking game and a poaching threat in men like Marnus van der Merwe and Taine Plumtree.

Josh McLeod would be another groundhog only for a slight hamstring issue but Dwayne Peel has been able to call on four players - Ellis Mee, Joe Roberts, Kemsley Mathias and Taine Plumtree – who have returned from Wales duty.

Win and it will be back-to-back victories for Munster for only the second time this season. They sit that one slot and just one point adrift of the sixth-ranked Scarlets having lost five times – half their games - in the URC already.

They could do with building up a head of steam.

“You look at the Top 14 and the Premiership, generally from third last to third place, there’s never a huge gap between them. Two or three games can flip it on its head. And you look at URC now and it’s turning out like that as well. A game, two games can change a huge amount and we showed that the year we won it.

“We were 13th just before Christmas and went on a bit of a run and eventually got to the play-offs and thankfully went on and won it,” said Prendergast. “But it shows the competitiveness of the league. It’s turned into a very, very good league and this weekend is another huge game. There’s no margin for error.” 

Munster: B O’Connor; S Daly, T Farrell, R Scannell, D Kilgallen; B Burns, E Coughlan; J Wycherley, D Barron, O Jager; T Ahern, F Wycherley; J O’Donoghue, A Kendellen, G Coombes.

Replacements: N Scannell, K Ryan, J Ryan, B Gleeson, J Hodnett, P Patterson, T Butler, S McCarthy.

Scarlets: I Nicholas; E Mee, J Roberts, J Williams, S Evans; I Lloyd, G Davies; K Mathias, M van der Merwe, A Holz; M Douglas, S Lousi; T Plumtree, D Davis, V Fifita.

Replacements: R Elias, A Hepburn, S Wainwright, A Craig, J Taylor, A Hughes, C Titcombe, M Page.

Referee: S Roscini (FIR).