Munster seek to rebound ahead of ‘four-game league’

FOUR GAME LEAGUE: Senior Coach Mike Prendergast and Forwards Coach Alex Codling. Pic: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy.

Under-pressure Munster have a four-game season in which to find the consistency needed to reach the URC play-offs, forwards coach Alex Codling believes, and it will need an immediate rebound from their Challenge Cup exit in Exeter as they prepare for a trip to Benetton this Saturday.

For the second year in a row, Munster find themselves requiring a late dash to the finishing line after a campaign of inconsistent performances has left them scrambling for knockout rugby and qualification for next season’s Champions Cup.

With a top-eight finish the objective, Clayton McMillan’s squad find themselves in seventh on the league table with four rounds of the regular season to play, just two points clear of ninth-placed Connacht.

The comfort, if there is any, lies with a congested battle for the top eight, with only eight points separating the western province and Ulster in third place, meaning a strong finish from any side could lead to a top-four finish and a guaranteed home URC quarter-final at the end of May.

Munster’s recent form is such, however, that nothing is certain about the way they will negotiate these final four rounds, with a visit to Connacht following this Saturday’s trip to Treviso before closing out with back-to-back home games, against derby rivals Ulster and the Lions. They will go into this weekend’s Round 15 on the back of three losses in a row, to URC rivals the Sharks and Bulls in South Africa, followed by their Round of 16 exit in the second-tier European Round of 16 at Exeter Chiefs.

McMillan’s team has not won back-to-back games since following their sole Champions Cup pool win over Gloucester at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on December 13 with their away URC success at Ospreys in Bridgend seven days later.

Codling, who's been linked with a move to Top 14 outfit Toulon at season's end, takes comfort in the fact Munster were in a similar situation 12 months ago, needing a victory and favourable results elsewhere in the penultimate of 18 rounds to reach the play-offs. They made it, beating Ulster at home, and then Benetton in Cork to claim sixth place.

“I think the biggest thing for us is we've been there before,” he said. “If you look how tight the league is, there's only eight points between third and ninth.

“Everyone's got things to play for, so the margins are very small, and effectively it's like a four-game league. So you just have to focus on the next game. The danger sometimes in situations like this, you look too far ahead and what-ifs, and we've just got to focus on our own performance in the next 80 minutes on Saturday away at Benetton, which we know will be tough.

“We're under no illusion, but we go there in good spirits, the boys are incredibly tight and they're desperate to do well.” 

Asked why Munster have been so inconsistent and what was being done to stop it, Codling said: “It's a really good question. I think there's things out of our control, which we identify, and there's obviously things within our control.

“Some of that may be due around selection, it may be due around injuries, people making errors, people don't want to make errors, but obviously at this level, when you make an error, as we did a couple of times against Exeter, you can go from tryline to tryline in 11 seconds. So, I think for us, it's about being really clear on how we want to play, and our discipline's obviously key.

“Yellow cards obviously do a lot of damage, and at times we've shot ourselves in the foot with our discipline. But the margins at this level are very small. Sometimes, with the exception of the (45-0) blowout against the Sharks, the swings are tiny.

“So, the biggest thing for us is around identifying how we want to play, and also then in terms of selection. I think that's the biggest effect of it's a four-game season.

“The business end of the season… if we can get a run of games going, we can end up anywhere from right near the top, all the way down. But we've just got to focus on this game. So, we're aware of all the bits and pieces, and obviously, with everything that's going on in the club at the moment, we just want to put some smiles on faces and make the supporters proud. That's our key aim.” 

Hooker Diarmuid Barron, back-row Brian Gleeson and wing Calvin Nash have all completed return to play protocols following head knocks in South Africa while lock Jean Kleyn (ankle), and props Conor Bartley (neck) and Oli Jager (foot) have all returned to training having recovered from their respective injuries.