AFTER A PERIOD of uncertainty, Tyler Bleyendaal is happy to have put his injury travails behind him as he bids to take on added responsibility in a Munster jersey and lead from the front.
Twelve months ago, the Kiwi-born out-half remained sidelined with a worrying neck issue and there was concern over whether Bleyendaal would return at all, but he’s now relishing the start of the new season.
With Johann van Graan’s Munster without the core of their side for the first block of Pro14 fixtures, Bleyendaal has been one of the senior members of the squad through pre-season, as he captained the province against London Irish in Cork.
Named to start this afternoon’s Pro14 opener against Dragons at Thomond Park at inside centre [KO 3pm, TG4/eir Sport/Premier Sports], Bleyendaal is chomping at the bit after a long summer of preparations.
“It was a very long pre-season, I chose the wrong one to be fit for,” he laughs. “We’ve got a lot of work done over the last 12 weeks. I’ve felt really good and not having the uncertainty and not having to work with the physios on the side of the field. It has just been meeting room, get on the pitch, train hard and repeat the process. It has been really fun.
“As a 10, you’re an on-field leader automatically but off the field, I’ve definitely had to step up. It has been natural but it also makes you appreciate what the other guys are doing from our leadership group when they’re here. It makes it busy, you’re doing a lot outside of the rugby schedule with the coaches and management staff.
“You’re trying to be the bridge between players and management. On the field, it’s work as usual. Work hard, try and make the best impression for me to stay in the team as long as possible.”
With JJ Hanrahan starting at out-half, Bleyendaal has been paired with Rory Scannell in the Munster midfield against the Welsh region, with Munster looking to make a fast start to the campaign.
Having had the chance to work with Stephen Larkham over the summer, 29-year-old Bleyendaal says the former Wallaby has brought new ‘ideas and concepts’ to the dressing room.
“It has been great,” he continues. “There was a lot of anticipation from him being named as coach to when he arrived. We were all pretty excited and I watched him a lot myself as a kid. He was a world-class player and has had a lot of success as a coach.
“He has brought a lot of new ideas and concepts in during the four weeks. It has been challenging, which is what the group needed I think. We’re just excited to play the games now and see how we can develop further.
“For me, there are few tips there, general phase kicking and maybe positioning but as the season goes on, it will be about picking his brain about decision-making and reading games. The quality of decisions, a lot of his thoughts and structures are around guys making decisions so that will be valuable for myself.”
In terms of what we can expect from Munster’s attack this season, Bleyendaal said: “It’s definitely an evolution. We haven’t disregarded everything we’ve done. Munster are based on those foundations — the set-piece, the work-ethic, the kicking game.
Where can we add another element to make better decisions? That’s what he has brought to us. Structurally, not too much will change but we’re trying to create more opportunities and make better decisions. Have a better skillset to execute and how that develops through the season will be important to us.
“Dragons at home is a great start for us, in front of our home crowd. We just need to gel together and connect all the new information that we’ve had on the training park and try and perform.”
Munster:
15. Mike Haley
14. Darren Sweetnam
13. Rory Scannell
12. Tyler Bleyendaal
11. Shane Daly
10. JJ Hanrahan
9. Nick McCarthy
1. Jeremy Loughman
2. Kevin O’Byrne
3. Stephen Archer
4. Fineen Wycherley
5. Billy Holland (captain)
6. Jack O’Donoghue
7. Tommy O’Donnell
8. Arno Botha.
Replacements:
16. Diarmuid Barron
17. James Cronin
18. Keynan Knox
19. Darren O’Shea
20. Chris Cloete
21. Alby Mathewson
22. Liam Coombes
23. Jack O’Sullivan.
Dragons:
15. Jordan Williams
14. Ashton Hewitt
13. Adam Warren
12. Jack Dixon
11. Owen Jenkins
10. Sam Davies
9. Rhodri Williams (captain)
1. Brok Harris
2. Richard Hibbard
3. Leon Brown
4. Joe Davies
5. Matthew Screech
6. Huw Taylor
7. Ollie Griffiths
8. Lewis Evans.
Replacements:
16. Ellis Shipp
17. Ryan Bevington
18. Lloyd Fairbrother
19. Max Williams
20. Taine Basham
21. Tavis Knoyle
22. Jacob Botica
23. Tyler Morgan.
Referee: Ben Blain [SRU].
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