MUNSTER HEAD COACH Johann van Graan could only laugh as he added PS after PS to what initially seemed like it would be a short injury update.
“It’s only really Mur and Alby that didn’t (pick up a knock),” said the South African with a chuckle. Good news for scrum-halves came thanks to a solid night’s work from the men servicing the rucks and set-piece.
Among the bodies in need of assessment will be Chris Farrell (who ended the game with a heavy limp), Dan Goggin and the entire back three of Alex Wootton, Keith Earls and Andrew Conway. ‘Knocks’ for all.
In the pack, John Ryan stayed off after his HIA and Peter O’Mahony winced as he was treated on the sideline. The captain is unlikely to be kept out of Friday’s Heineken Champions Cup trip to Gloucester.
Munster sit top of Pool 2 while their hosts in Kingsholm will begin bottom, but only four points separate the sides and Exeter Chiefs’ presence in the hunt will feel ominous until somebody can mathematically put them out of the running.
There is no pedigree like Munster’s, however. And through their two inter-pro wins since Christmas the southern province have built impressive form.
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They go to Gloucester after arguably their most complete performance of the season. Van Graan jokes that it was at least their best performance of the five-day-old year, but there was serious edge to Munster, beginning with the strong show of respect to Connacht as they picked as many front-liners as possible either from the start or on a stacked bench.
Conor Murray gets a pass away. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“Yeah, impressed with what I saw,” said Conor Murray of his view from the sideline before closing out the win.
“There was a good calmness about us, especially when we went under pressure late in the game. There was just a good clarity and we knew what we were about and we executed a lot of what we were trying to do pretty well.
“Never the perfect game but a really good performance to build into Europe. I think.”
He adds: “those three inter-pros over Christmas, and rotations in the squad, a lot of lads who are close to the team get a bit of game-time. And who knows what will happen next week with selection with injuries or whatever. So I think the Christmas period was really beneficial for our squad.”
Beneficial for their standing in the Pro14 table too. Munster are the new leaders of Conference A, the turnaround coming thanks to Munster’s ability to win on the road in Galway while Glasgow slipped in Treviso.
“We set our standards and there are certain things we’ve been doing at home that we’re very happy with and certain things away from home that we weren’t,” said Van Graan.
“We are creating opportunities but not finishing them. But tonight I thought we finished our opportunities and that showed on the scoreboard today. To score four tries away from home, we’ll take that every day of the week and I thought we were more accurate tonight.
“I thought our maul went really well tonight and that bought us penalties and Joey kicked it to touch, it buys you field position.
“And I thought we were pretty clinical in the 22 and both 9s and 10s managed the game pretty well down there.
“We didn’t overplay. Once their defence was up we turned them and put pressure on their lineout, they kicked it out and we went again.”
A fine foundation to work with for clashes with Gloucester and Exeter.
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Munster bumped and bruised, but battle-hardened for English tests
Sean Farrell reports from the Sportsground
MUNSTER HEAD COACH Johann van Graan could only laugh as he added PS after PS to what initially seemed like it would be a short injury update.
“It’s only really Mur and Alby that didn’t (pick up a knock),” said the South African with a chuckle. Good news for scrum-halves came thanks to a solid night’s work from the men servicing the rucks and set-piece.
Among the bodies in need of assessment will be Chris Farrell (who ended the game with a heavy limp), Dan Goggin and the entire back three of Alex Wootton, Keith Earls and Andrew Conway. ‘Knocks’ for all.
In the pack, John Ryan stayed off after his HIA and Peter O’Mahony winced as he was treated on the sideline. The captain is unlikely to be kept out of Friday’s Heineken Champions Cup trip to Gloucester.
Munster sit top of Pool 2 while their hosts in Kingsholm will begin bottom, but only four points separate the sides and Exeter Chiefs’ presence in the hunt will feel ominous until somebody can mathematically put them out of the running.
There is no pedigree like Munster’s, however. And through their two inter-pro wins since Christmas the southern province have built impressive form.
They go to Gloucester after arguably their most complete performance of the season. Van Graan jokes that it was at least their best performance of the five-day-old year, but there was serious edge to Munster, beginning with the strong show of respect to Connacht as they picked as many front-liners as possible either from the start or on a stacked bench.
“Yeah, impressed with what I saw,” said Conor Murray of his view from the sideline before closing out the win.
“There was a good calmness about us, especially when we went under pressure late in the game. There was just a good clarity and we knew what we were about and we executed a lot of what we were trying to do pretty well.
“Never the perfect game but a really good performance to build into Europe. I think.”
He adds: “those three inter-pros over Christmas, and rotations in the squad, a lot of lads who are close to the team get a bit of game-time. And who knows what will happen next week with selection with injuries or whatever. So I think the Christmas period was really beneficial for our squad.”
Beneficial for their standing in the Pro14 table too. Munster are the new leaders of Conference A, the turnaround coming thanks to Munster’s ability to win on the road in Galway while Glasgow slipped in Treviso.
“We set our standards and there are certain things we’ve been doing at home that we’re very happy with and certain things away from home that we weren’t,” said Van Graan.
“We are creating opportunities but not finishing them. But tonight I thought we finished our opportunities and that showed on the scoreboard today. To score four tries away from home, we’ll take that every day of the week and I thought we were more accurate tonight.
“I thought our maul went really well tonight and that bought us penalties and Joey kicked it to touch, it buys you field position.
“And I thought we were pretty clinical in the 22 and both 9s and 10s managed the game pretty well down there.
“We didn’t overplay. Once their defence was up we turned them and put pressure on their lineout, they kicked it out and we went again.”
A fine foundation to work with for clashes with Gloucester and Exeter.
Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Champions Cup Munster Pool 2