ON ANOTHER NIGHT when Munster might have edged over the line against Castres, openside flanker John Hodnett would probably have been named player of the match.
The 25-year-old scored two tries, the first of which involved an excellent finish past three defenders, but was also prominent as Munster’s busiest defender, with his chop tackling making an impact against Castres’ ball-carriers.
Like everyone else, there were a couple of errors from Hodnett amid the madness at Stade Pierre Fabre but this was a reminder of his quality in the number seven shirt.
Not that Hodnett cared much about his performance on Friday night. With his head bowed in a busy corridor of Castres’ stadium, the Cork man did his best to answer questions after Munster’s 16-14 defeat but it was clear he wanted to be anywhere else.
As his team-mates filtered past towards the team bus, Hodnett tried to make sense of a frustrating night that saw Munster miss a big opportunity to land a crucial away win that would have made the passage into the Champions Cup knock-out stages much clearer.
“We’re disappointed,” said Hodnett. “We had a really good week’s training and we had a good plan in place but I suppose we didn’t execute enough on the night.
“It’s a tough place to go and win if you’re not on it and nailing your detail. It’s really disappointing, but look, we did get a point which isn’t the end of the world.”
That losing bonus point could come in handy by the end of the pool stages in January, with Munster facing two tough tasks next month.
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Hodnett at the final whistle. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
They will host English side Saracens at Thomond Park on 11 January before they travel to Northampton on 18 January for their final Pool 3 game.
Last season, Munster got into the knock-out stages having won just once in their pool, gaining nine match points in total, while French side Racing also advanced with a single win and only eight match points.
Munster are already on six match points but the reality is that they want to kick on to earn home advantage for the knock-outs after two successive Round of 16 exits on the road against the Sharks and Northampton in the last two seasons.
“They [Saracens and Northampton] are two really good sides,” said Hodnett. “We’ll really have to pull up our socks and give it a good go if we want to get out.
“They will be tough games alright, but on our day I know we can beat anyone. We just have to get our heads up.
“We have a really important game next week again in the URC. We need to start getting up that table again. All the focus is on next week really.”
And that’s the other tricky part of it for Munster, they now face into a big URC game away to Ulster on Friday night.
They’re sitting 11th in the table and have a clash against Leinster to come in Thomond Park on 27 December.
Given that they picked up more worrying injuries in Castres and will have to rest their Ireland internationals at some stage, this is a challenging run for Munster. They have no time to feel sorry for themselves.
Munster have to rally for the Ulster game. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“You can’t,” said Hodnett. “You can’t dwell on things because it only spills into next week and like I said, next week is a big game.
“Look, we’re disappointed, we will get over it when we get home and start fresh on Monday, look at things we need to get better at and just keep improving.
“It’s a big couple of weeks, but it gets a bit daunting when you’re looking a couple of weeks ahead. You have to just go day-by-day, week-by-week. I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but genuinely, you can’t be looking too far down the line when you have good opposition to play next week.”
Hodnett hopes to play a central part having made a strong return to the starting XV in Castres.
He was on the bench for the previous two games against the Lions and Stade Français as Alex Kendellen wore the number seven shirt, so there is real competition between the pair of opensides.
“I was happy enough,” said Hodnett of his showing in Castres. “It was nice to score tries obviously. I feel fit which is the main thing.
“Cossie [interim head coach Ian Costello] has been really good in fairness over the last couple of weeks, just around chatting, bringing in this new idea of rotation.
“He was really good, he’s a good fella, he’s good to talk to. I was just trying to stay patient and when I get a chance to play, that’s your chance. You have to take it.”
Munster have to take their chances in the next five weeks. This could be the making or breaking of their season.
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Ulster, Leinster, Saracens, Saints - Munster have massive weeks ahead
ON ANOTHER NIGHT when Munster might have edged over the line against Castres, openside flanker John Hodnett would probably have been named player of the match.
The 25-year-old scored two tries, the first of which involved an excellent finish past three defenders, but was also prominent as Munster’s busiest defender, with his chop tackling making an impact against Castres’ ball-carriers.
Like everyone else, there were a couple of errors from Hodnett amid the madness at Stade Pierre Fabre but this was a reminder of his quality in the number seven shirt.
Not that Hodnett cared much about his performance on Friday night. With his head bowed in a busy corridor of Castres’ stadium, the Cork man did his best to answer questions after Munster’s 16-14 defeat but it was clear he wanted to be anywhere else.
As his team-mates filtered past towards the team bus, Hodnett tried to make sense of a frustrating night that saw Munster miss a big opportunity to land a crucial away win that would have made the passage into the Champions Cup knock-out stages much clearer.
“We’re disappointed,” said Hodnett. “We had a really good week’s training and we had a good plan in place but I suppose we didn’t execute enough on the night.
“It’s a tough place to go and win if you’re not on it and nailing your detail. It’s really disappointing, but look, we did get a point which isn’t the end of the world.”
That losing bonus point could come in handy by the end of the pool stages in January, with Munster facing two tough tasks next month.
They will host English side Saracens at Thomond Park on 11 January before they travel to Northampton on 18 January for their final Pool 3 game.
Last season, Munster got into the knock-out stages having won just once in their pool, gaining nine match points in total, while French side Racing also advanced with a single win and only eight match points.
Munster are already on six match points but the reality is that they want to kick on to earn home advantage for the knock-outs after two successive Round of 16 exits on the road against the Sharks and Northampton in the last two seasons.
“They [Saracens and Northampton] are two really good sides,” said Hodnett. “We’ll really have to pull up our socks and give it a good go if we want to get out.
“They will be tough games alright, but on our day I know we can beat anyone. We just have to get our heads up.
“We have a really important game next week again in the URC. We need to start getting up that table again. All the focus is on next week really.”
And that’s the other tricky part of it for Munster, they now face into a big URC game away to Ulster on Friday night.
They’re sitting 11th in the table and have a clash against Leinster to come in Thomond Park on 27 December.
Given that they picked up more worrying injuries in Castres and will have to rest their Ireland internationals at some stage, this is a challenging run for Munster. They have no time to feel sorry for themselves.
“You can’t,” said Hodnett. “You can’t dwell on things because it only spills into next week and like I said, next week is a big game.
“Look, we’re disappointed, we will get over it when we get home and start fresh on Monday, look at things we need to get better at and just keep improving.
“It’s a big couple of weeks, but it gets a bit daunting when you’re looking a couple of weeks ahead. You have to just go day-by-day, week-by-week. I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but genuinely, you can’t be looking too far down the line when you have good opposition to play next week.”
Hodnett hopes to play a central part having made a strong return to the starting XV in Castres.
He was on the bench for the previous two games against the Lions and Stade Français as Alex Kendellen wore the number seven shirt, so there is real competition between the pair of opensides.
“I was happy enough,” said Hodnett of his showing in Castres. “It was nice to score tries obviously. I feel fit which is the main thing.
“Cossie [interim head coach Ian Costello] has been really good in fairness over the last couple of weeks, just around chatting, bringing in this new idea of rotation.
“He was really good, he’s a good fella, he’s good to talk to. I was just trying to stay patient and when I get a chance to play, that’s your chance. You have to take it.”
Munster have to take their chances in the next five weeks. This could be the making or breaking of their season.
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