AS ANYONE WHO watched Saracens dismantle Glasgow in the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals will know, you simply have to disrupt Mark McCallโs side when theyโve got the ball.
Seven tries in a rampant performance demonstrated just how good the English club are they get into their stride and Munster will appreciate it better than anyone.
Handily enough, Johann van Graan has two of the best spoilers in Europe in his team in the shape of captain Peter OโMahony and second row Tadhg Beirne.
Jamie George and Peter O'Mahony during the 2017 Lions tour. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
OโMahony is joint-top of the lineout steals list in this competition so far with five, Beirne not too far behind on three.
Beirne, meanwhile, leads the โturnovers wonโ charts with 14, with OโMahony currently on six.
Saracens have spent time looking at the threat of Munsterโs dual destroyers, although many of McCallโs players were already familiar with both.
OโMahony โ having played against them for Ireland before โ captained Owen Farrell, Mako Vunipola, Liam Williams, George Kruis, Maro Itoje and Jamie George in the Lionsโ first Test against the All Blacks in 2017.
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Though OโMahony was then dropped by Lions boss Warren Gatland after a 30-15 defeat and didnโt feature again in the Test series, the Saracens players have respect for the Munster man.
โMe and Pete got on pretty well, actually,โ says hooker George. โFirst of all, what an incredible man and an unbelievable leader in terms of his captaincy on and off the field
โHeโs one of the best Iโve worked with, even if it was for a short period time. His record speaks for itself, so many Ireland caps and British and Irish Lions caps.
โHe has got an aura about him and heโs an incredibly impressive character.โ
Maro Itoje with O'Mahony. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
For his part, OโMahony was equally impressed with the Saracens players on that Lions tour of New Zealand.
โThey were very impressive with regard to their thinking of the game, forward-thinking, game plan thinking,โ says the Munster captain.
โYou learn a huge amount from the way they approach the game and how they implement it. You see that at the weekends and itโs very impressive.โ
OโMahony will be looking to continue his fine record of pinching lineouts on Saturday in Coventry, with Georgeโs throw coming into his focus this time around.
โItโs difficult,โ says George of dealing with OโMahonyโs lineout threat. โHeโs one of the best lineout operators in the world at the minute and I saw that first-hand on the Lions tour.
โOur lineout has worked well for us and we came up with a good plan against Glasgow after a few uncertain ones. George Kruis will be calling and Iโll be under pressure to get the ball to the right areas. The set-piece will be a defining area of the game, itโs hugely important.โ
OโMahony says Kruis โdid an incredible amount of lineout work and videoโ on the Lions tour and expects Saracens to be superbly prepared, while he says George โhas a lovely throw as well. Theyโre certainly a complete lineout team.โ
Beirne has been superb for Munster. Gary Carr / INPHO
Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO
Beirne isnโt as well known to the Saracens players on a personal level but he has featured prominently in their analysis ahead of this European semi-final, given how much of a danger he is with his jackal turnovers.
McCallโs team are sublime when they get quick ball at ruck time, meaning that dealing with Beirne is a key focus.
โWeโre aware of Tadhgโs threat,โ says George. โHe is fantastic over the ball and he has so many turnovers. Heโs very strong over the ball.
โWe have a plan in place to take that away from him and itโs an area which is so important. They pride themselves on it and we have to be right on our game there in order for us to get our attack flowing.โ
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Saracens wary of 'incredible man' O'Mahony but 'have a plan' for Beirne
AS ANYONE WHO watched Saracens dismantle Glasgow in the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals will know, you simply have to disrupt Mark McCallโs side when theyโve got the ball.
Seven tries in a rampant performance demonstrated just how good the English club are they get into their stride and Munster will appreciate it better than anyone.
Handily enough, Johann van Graan has two of the best spoilers in Europe in his team in the shape of captain Peter OโMahony and second row Tadhg Beirne.
OโMahony is joint-top of the lineout steals list in this competition so far with five, Beirne not too far behind on three.
Beirne, meanwhile, leads the โturnovers wonโ charts with 14, with OโMahony currently on six.
Saracens have spent time looking at the threat of Munsterโs dual destroyers, although many of McCallโs players were already familiar with both.
OโMahony โ having played against them for Ireland before โ captained Owen Farrell, Mako Vunipola, Liam Williams, George Kruis, Maro Itoje and Jamie George in the Lionsโ first Test against the All Blacks in 2017.
Though OโMahony was then dropped by Lions boss Warren Gatland after a 30-15 defeat and didnโt feature again in the Test series, the Saracens players have respect for the Munster man.
โMe and Pete got on pretty well, actually,โ says hooker George. โFirst of all, what an incredible man and an unbelievable leader in terms of his captaincy on and off the field
โHeโs one of the best Iโve worked with, even if it was for a short period time. His record speaks for itself, so many Ireland caps and British and Irish Lions caps.
โHe has got an aura about him and heโs an incredibly impressive character.โ
For his part, OโMahony was equally impressed with the Saracens players on that Lions tour of New Zealand.
โThey were very impressive with regard to their thinking of the game, forward-thinking, game plan thinking,โ says the Munster captain.
โYou learn a huge amount from the way they approach the game and how they implement it. You see that at the weekends and itโs very impressive.โ
OโMahony will be looking to continue his fine record of pinching lineouts on Saturday in Coventry, with Georgeโs throw coming into his focus this time around.
โItโs difficult,โ says George of dealing with OโMahonyโs lineout threat. โHeโs one of the best lineout operators in the world at the minute and I saw that first-hand on the Lions tour.
โOur lineout has worked well for us and we came up with a good plan against Glasgow after a few uncertain ones. George Kruis will be calling and Iโll be under pressure to get the ball to the right areas. The set-piece will be a defining area of the game, itโs hugely important.โ
OโMahony says Kruis โdid an incredible amount of lineout work and videoโ on the Lions tour and expects Saracens to be superbly prepared, while he says George โhas a lovely throw as well. Theyโre certainly a complete lineout team.โ
Beirne isnโt as well known to the Saracens players on a personal level but he has featured prominently in their analysis ahead of this European semi-final, given how much of a danger he is with his jackal turnovers.
McCallโs team are sublime when they get quick ball at ruck time, meaning that dealing with Beirne is a key focus.
โWeโre aware of Tadhgโs threat,โ says George. โHe is fantastic over the ball and he has so many turnovers. Heโs very strong over the ball.
โWe have a plan in place to take that away from him and itโs an area which is so important. They pride themselves on it and we have to be right on our game there in order for us to get our attack flowing.โ
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Jamie George lineouts Peter O'Mahony Saracens Steals Tadhg Beirne Threats Turnovers