Munster head north vowing to be 'cuter' in rugby's new reality 

CUTER: Munster's Tadhg Beirne dejected after the loss to Leinster. Pic: ©INPHO/Andrew Conan.

Munster will negotiate their second URC derby in six days at Ulster on Friday (7:45pm) with an attempt to be “cuter” as they negotiate rugby’s new and less attractive landscape.

Last Saturday’s attritional battle with Leinster and 13-8 defeat was not just a product of wintry conditions at Thomond Park but also the increase in kicking that has arisen from the new laws around contestable kicks, which have lead to more knock-ons and a higher frequency of scrums.

Throw in a free-for-all at the breakdown for good measure and even the normally placid Tadhg Beirne was provoked into a state of the union address to the media in his post-match press conference.

“Let’s be honest about it,” Beirne said, “the style of the game has gone backwards. If we're being serious, teams are just kicking the ball.” The reality for Munster, however, is things are not going to change anytime soon and assistant coach Denis Leamy this week admitted his players have to keep adapting to the territory their sport has now entered.

“The game is going a certain way and the game will always do that,” the defence coach said. “It's constantly evolving and changing and I think we put an awful lot of emphasis and a lot of time into where the game is going and staying with the trends.

“A huge amount of work goes into all the aspects mentioned. We don't get to decide where the game is going but I think we certainly do put a lot of time into those areas and obviously we can be a little bit cuter in certain areas… you have to give an awful lot of credit to Leinster as well in terms of how they pressurised us in those areas as well.

“I understand the frustrations and you get the frustrations of different people around where the game is but absolutely we've just got to work on what we can control.” 

Life on the pitch is not about to get any easier for Munster against an Ulster side in flying form under a rejigged coaching ticket led by Richie Murphy. A home win at a sold-out Ravenhill, now known as Affidea Stadium, will see the Ulstermen dislodge their rivals from second place having played a game less and with Munster having chosen this fixture to rest their active Ireland internationals under IRFU player welfare protocols, the away side’s strength in depth will be tested to the max.

Indeed, the heavy squad rotation that marked head coach Clayton McMillan’s first months of his maiden URC campaign was planned for just such an occasion and while he was forced to plan without captain Beirne and fellow Ireland men Craig Casey, Jack Crowley and Tom Farrell, there are six further changes from the side beaten by Leinster last Saturday.

Calvin Nash returns from the illness which forced him out of last weekend’s Thomond Park defeat and is one of four backline changes with Dan Kelly, JJ Hanrahan and Paddy Patterson also set to start in Belfast, while matchday skipper Diarmuid Barron, Josh Wycherley, Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley, John Hodnett and Alex Kendellen return in the forward pack.

There is also one positional switch from the round eight defeat with Tom Ahern moving from the second row to blindside flanker while on a bench which reverts to a split of five forwards and three backs, 21-year-old back-rower Brian Gleeson returns for his first game since October 18 when his try-scoring start at No.8 against Leinster at Croke Park was ended with a fractured elbow.

Munster go up against an Ulster side captained at lock by a fit-again Iain Henderson following a back injury, one of five changes from a 29-24 derby victory at Connacht which was the first time this season they have failed to collect a try bonus point.

With No.8 Juarno Augustus damaging ankle ligaments last Saturday, Australia prop Angus Bell is the only new addition to a squad that missed out on the URC play-offs last June and thus the Champions Cup this season. They were beaten by Munster in Belfast along the way, Tom Farrell completing a magnificent hat-trick two minutes from time for a 22-19 victory but that was last December and Leamy is steeling for a stronger challenge ahead.

“I think Ulster are probably in a better place than they were this time last year albeit it's always a really, really tough place to go. It's such a difficult atmosphere to go into for an opposition player but it's also one that you look forward to.

“I think Ulster seem very confident in themselves. They seem to have a really good atmosphere going in their squad and they look like they're excited to play the game. So that's always a great challenge to have to go into and obviously with Richie and (new attack coach) Mark Sexton especially, they've got their attack humming.” With Ulster adopting the same ethos in terms of a ball-in-hand playing philosophy, Leamy agreed this was a match-up that could suit Munster and after the trench warfare of the previous week that would come as a blessed relief.

ULSTER: J Stockdale; W Kok, J Hume, S McCloskey, Z Ward; J Murphy, N Doak; A Bell, T Stewart, T O’Toole; I Henderson - captain, J Hopes; C Izuchukwu, N Timoney, B Ward.

Replacements: R Herring, E O’Sullivan, S Wilson, H Sheridan, D McCann, C McKee, J Flannery, J Postlethwaite.

MUNSTER: M Haley; C Nash, D Kelly, A Nankivell, T Abrahams; JJ Hanrahan, P Patterson; J Wycherley, D Barron - captain, M Ala’alatoa; J Kleyn, F Wycherley; T Ahern, J Hodnett, A Kendellen.

Replacements: L Barron, J Loughman, C Bartley, J O’Donoghue, B Gleeson, E Coughlan, T Butler, S O’Brien.

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)