ON THE FACE of it, a trip to Treviso is the perfect antidote for Munster’s lacklustre loss to Edinburgh at Thomond Park last week. But despite the Italian side receiving a thrashing away to the Ospreys in week one, Munster will still have to win at a venue where they haven’t gotten four points in either of the last two seasons.
Munster assistant coach Ian Costello said that one thing Anthony Foley focused on in the aftermath of last week’s defeat, was the opportunity to improve on the performances in Treviso from the recent past.
“Anthony made the point that we have struggled in Treviso over the last number of years and we have a chance to right that wrong immediately. We can get four points that we haven’t gotten in the last two years. We would play the game today if we could. When lads our hurting they want to purge that straight away,” Costello said.
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Last Friday’s game was a bitterly disappointing first competitive outing for Foley and his staff, as Munster were, in the head coach’s own words, bullied. Costello says the review of the game was frank and that the players know where they need to improve.
“It was a tough review as it should have been because I think we were sub-standard on Friday night. Physically they were in a better place than we were. We looked at our ball carrying and our cleanouts and our low tackling, which we pride ourselves on. When you are off on those I think it can impact your physicality after that and that is where we struggled,” Costello said.
Munster haven't beaten Treviso away since the 2011/2012 season. Elena Barbini / INPHO
Elena Barbini / INPHO / INPHO
Since Edinburgh’s win, their coach Alan Solomons has talked about how perfect their pre-season was but Costello says that Munster’s preparation was strong too. One difference was the absence of Munster’s internationals, and Costello says that the front line players need to be gradually reintroduced.
“We need to get the balance right between guys who are rugby ready and bringing back those guys for games down the line. From our point of view, we prepared well enough to win that game and we had enough chances to win that game. If we had played even close to our standards, I think we would have won it,” Costello said
Despite Munster’s home loss as eleven point favourites, Costello said the coaching staff still found some positives in their performance. He also stressed the importance of not solely focusing on the negative in post-game review sessions.
“There was a nice balance to our attack in the second half. With the new style of rugby we are trying to play, we are direct and quick and we play with a fast tempo. When we got that right I think we looked really good. We looked at our chopping tackles, which were very good and I felt we could absorb pressure all evening when we got that right,” Costello said.
'We would play the game today if we could' - Munster badly want to erase Edinburgh loss against Treviso
ON THE FACE of it, a trip to Treviso is the perfect antidote for Munster’s lacklustre loss to Edinburgh at Thomond Park last week. But despite the Italian side receiving a thrashing away to the Ospreys in week one, Munster will still have to win at a venue where they haven’t gotten four points in either of the last two seasons.
Munster assistant coach Ian Costello said that one thing Anthony Foley focused on in the aftermath of last week’s defeat, was the opportunity to improve on the performances in Treviso from the recent past.
“Anthony made the point that we have struggled in Treviso over the last number of years and we have a chance to right that wrong immediately. We can get four points that we haven’t gotten in the last two years. We would play the game today if we could. When lads our hurting they want to purge that straight away,” Costello said.
Last Friday’s game was a bitterly disappointing first competitive outing for Foley and his staff, as Munster were, in the head coach’s own words, bullied. Costello says the review of the game was frank and that the players know where they need to improve.
“It was a tough review as it should have been because I think we were sub-standard on Friday night. Physically they were in a better place than we were. We looked at our ball carrying and our cleanouts and our low tackling, which we pride ourselves on. When you are off on those I think it can impact your physicality after that and that is where we struggled,” Costello said.
Since Edinburgh’s win, their coach Alan Solomons has talked about how perfect their pre-season was but Costello says that Munster’s preparation was strong too. One difference was the absence of Munster’s internationals, and Costello says that the front line players need to be gradually reintroduced.
“We need to get the balance right between guys who are rugby ready and bringing back those guys for games down the line. From our point of view, we prepared well enough to win that game and we had enough chances to win that game. If we had played even close to our standards, I think we would have won it,” Costello said
Despite Munster’s home loss as eleven point favourites, Costello said the coaching staff still found some positives in their performance. He also stressed the importance of not solely focusing on the negative in post-game review sessions.
“There was a nice balance to our attack in the second half. With the new style of rugby we are trying to play, we are direct and quick and we play with a fast tempo. When we got that right I think we looked really good. We looked at our chopping tackles, which were very good and I felt we could absorb pressure all evening when we got that right,” Costello said.
Ian Costello was speaking to Big Red Bench. Follow them on Twitter @BigRedBench or listen to RedFM online here.
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