MUNSTER’S TWO-WEEK stint in South Africa before their Champions Cup semi-final could very easily have been viewed as a negative but with Johann van Graan around, that was never likely.
Before his squad left, the uber-positive Munster head coach was keen to stress that the tour could prove to be the ideal preparation for their trip to Bordeaux to take on Racing 92 in the last four of Europe.
And while the flight home possibly accentuated the swelling on Jack O’Donoghue’s ankle after he took a knock against the Cheetahs, van Graan largely seems to have been proven right.
Munster were in great spirits at training in UL yesterday. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
With a nine-day turnaround between that rousing, morale-boosting win over the Cheetahs and the Racing clash, even the issue of long-distance travel has been less impactful.
With his players raving about how they bonded as a group in South Africa – where they enjoyed the sights as well as training hard – the Munster boss is happy with how things panned out.
“We used this last two weeks as a total positive,” said van Graan at Munster’s high performance centre in Limerick yesterday.
“Firstly, building relationships. Teams don’t get to tour that much. We went to some fantastic places in South Africa and the South African people were really good to the team.
“We also used our time smartly. We trained really hard when we needed to, to possibly improve on the Toulon performance. We gave the Kings and the Cheetahs the respect they deserved, especially that Cheetahs game was really tough.
“In the background, we started working on Racing. The fact that we could take close to our strongest team across to South Africa worked in our favour, so that we are all on the same page.
“We used the squad, made I think 10 changes and then nine changes again, so everyone on tour knew exactly what part they had to play in getting results. The Cheetahs game was very important in terms of a home semi-final.
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“If they had beaten us, it all came down to the last game against Ulster, so we’ve qualified for that and now we can put all our attention on the Champions Cup semi-final.”
Another of the standout features of the tour was the impressive support Munster had along with them, the red jerseys and flags evident in the stands for the wins over the Kings and Cheetahs.
Munster fans were also in good form in South Africa. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The Fields of Athenry got a fair few renditions on South African soil too, while local reports told of the Munster fans drinking a hotel bar dry at one stage.
“In South Africa, I think the Munster support won the hearts of South Africans, the way they follow their team,” said van Graan.
“It was fantastic to have them around, it was great to have them around the hotel. The brilliant thing is they back the team and back the players.
“It would be great to have many of them over in Bordeaux. We know that they will be there, but we need to perform on the field as well.”
Indeed Munster do, particularly with Racing having the advantage of playing in France, albeit not at the U Arena in Paris, where they beat Munster 34-30 in January.
After travelling back from South Africa through Dubai, Munster had two days off to enjoy time with their families and then got back to work on Monday as they finalise their preparation for Racing.
Van Graan said “it’s realistic” that Keith Earls could feature after his swifter-than-expected recovery from a knee injury, albeit the Munster head coach did stress that the wing would have to come through training today and tomorrow to prove his fitness.
O’Donoghue’s ankle is a concern but Munster will “give him every opportunity to recover to the end of the week,” the same applying to loosehead prop James Cronin [shoulder] and scrum-half James Hart [head injury].
Van Graan understands that he needs as many fit and firing bodies as possible if Munster are to take a step further in the Champions Cup this season and reach the final.
Van Graan says Racing have many world-class players. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
He wasn’t around for last season’s semi-final defeat to Saracens but feels that lessons have been learned from the mistakes that time, while he points out that assistant coaches Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones and performance analyst George Murray have been good at “guarding me with one or two things that happened last year.”
Jones has also played an important role in driving Munster’s ever-improving attack alongside van Graan this season and the head coach has appreciated working with the former Ireland fullback.
“From the first time I met him he’s been brilliant,” said van Graan of Jones. “Not only his on-field coaching, but the way he sees the game. I think the four coaches – JP [Ferreira], Felix, Jerry and myself – we’ve found a good balance immediately.
“We understand our roles, we back each other. There was a fantastic moment, even after the Cheetahs game, to enjoy it together after getting such a win.
“With Felix, the way he works with the backs is incredibly good. We’ve found a good balance in our game – when to kick, when to pass, when to speed it up and slow it down.
“Hopefully, the longer we stay together as a coaching group the better we will become.”
Of course, the coaches won’t have an impact on the pitch on Sunday and van Graan is hoping that Munster’s famous never-say-die spirit can come to the fore in the tighter moments of this semi-final.
“It’s firstly in your DNA,” said van Graan. “It’s also in the way that you operate from day to day. I said to the guys way back in November; ‘You don’t become a champion when you get a trophy, you become a champion every single day of your life.’
“So, to us, it’s all about habits.”
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'Munster's support won the hearts of South Africans, the way they follow their team'
MUNSTER’S TWO-WEEK stint in South Africa before their Champions Cup semi-final could very easily have been viewed as a negative but with Johann van Graan around, that was never likely.
Before his squad left, the uber-positive Munster head coach was keen to stress that the tour could prove to be the ideal preparation for their trip to Bordeaux to take on Racing 92 in the last four of Europe.
And while the flight home possibly accentuated the swelling on Jack O’Donoghue’s ankle after he took a knock against the Cheetahs, van Graan largely seems to have been proven right.
With a nine-day turnaround between that rousing, morale-boosting win over the Cheetahs and the Racing clash, even the issue of long-distance travel has been less impactful.
With his players raving about how they bonded as a group in South Africa – where they enjoyed the sights as well as training hard – the Munster boss is happy with how things panned out.
“We used this last two weeks as a total positive,” said van Graan at Munster’s high performance centre in Limerick yesterday.
“Firstly, building relationships. Teams don’t get to tour that much. We went to some fantastic places in South Africa and the South African people were really good to the team.
“We also used our time smartly. We trained really hard when we needed to, to possibly improve on the Toulon performance. We gave the Kings and the Cheetahs the respect they deserved, especially that Cheetahs game was really tough.
“In the background, we started working on Racing. The fact that we could take close to our strongest team across to South Africa worked in our favour, so that we are all on the same page.
“We used the squad, made I think 10 changes and then nine changes again, so everyone on tour knew exactly what part they had to play in getting results. The Cheetahs game was very important in terms of a home semi-final.
“If they had beaten us, it all came down to the last game against Ulster, so we’ve qualified for that and now we can put all our attention on the Champions Cup semi-final.”
Another of the standout features of the tour was the impressive support Munster had along with them, the red jerseys and flags evident in the stands for the wins over the Kings and Cheetahs.
The Fields of Athenry got a fair few renditions on South African soil too, while local reports told of the Munster fans drinking a hotel bar dry at one stage.
“In South Africa, I think the Munster support won the hearts of South Africans, the way they follow their team,” said van Graan.
“It was fantastic to have them around, it was great to have them around the hotel. The brilliant thing is they back the team and back the players.
“It would be great to have many of them over in Bordeaux. We know that they will be there, but we need to perform on the field as well.”
Indeed Munster do, particularly with Racing having the advantage of playing in France, albeit not at the U Arena in Paris, where they beat Munster 34-30 in January.
After travelling back from South Africa through Dubai, Munster had two days off to enjoy time with their families and then got back to work on Monday as they finalise their preparation for Racing.
Van Graan said “it’s realistic” that Keith Earls could feature after his swifter-than-expected recovery from a knee injury, albeit the Munster head coach did stress that the wing would have to come through training today and tomorrow to prove his fitness.
O’Donoghue’s ankle is a concern but Munster will “give him every opportunity to recover to the end of the week,” the same applying to loosehead prop James Cronin [shoulder] and scrum-half James Hart [head injury].
Van Graan understands that he needs as many fit and firing bodies as possible if Munster are to take a step further in the Champions Cup this season and reach the final.
He wasn’t around for last season’s semi-final defeat to Saracens but feels that lessons have been learned from the mistakes that time, while he points out that assistant coaches Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones and performance analyst George Murray have been good at “guarding me with one or two things that happened last year.”
Jones has also played an important role in driving Munster’s ever-improving attack alongside van Graan this season and the head coach has appreciated working with the former Ireland fullback.
“From the first time I met him he’s been brilliant,” said van Graan of Jones. “Not only his on-field coaching, but the way he sees the game. I think the four coaches – JP [Ferreira], Felix, Jerry and myself – we’ve found a good balance immediately.
“We understand our roles, we back each other. There was a fantastic moment, even after the Cheetahs game, to enjoy it together after getting such a win.
“With Felix, the way he works with the backs is incredibly good. We’ve found a good balance in our game – when to kick, when to pass, when to speed it up and slow it down.
“Hopefully, the longer we stay together as a coaching group the better we will become.”
Of course, the coaches won’t have an impact on the pitch on Sunday and van Graan is hoping that Munster’s famous never-say-die spirit can come to the fore in the tighter moments of this semi-final.
“It’s firstly in your DNA,” said van Graan. “It’s also in the way that you operate from day to day. I said to the guys way back in November; ‘You don’t become a champion when you get a trophy, you become a champion every single day of your life.’
“So, to us, it’s all about habits.”
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