JOHANN VAN GRAAN adopted the language of a prize fight on Friday night.
The lights in Kingspan Stadium were still a long way from being shut down for Christmas, but the Munster head coach had thoughts firmly fixed on Leinster.
The South African is rarely short of a complimentary word for his rivals in the east. He continually refers to the team setting the benchmark, the team with Pro14 and European champions daubed all over them.
Yet aside from offering up that continuous stream of respect, once the L word was mentioned, the fixture was fixed in Van Graan’s vision like a fight for a fighter. The usual use of a day or ‘next week’ to point at a given fixture was replaced with a specific date as boxers and their promoters are wont to do.
“There will be many changes,” said Van Graan, who also expects to see Leinster fully locked and loaded in an already sold-out Thomond Park.
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“24-25 guys were rested for this week, given a mental break. We’ll carefully plan through this week and, what a great challenge awaits us on the 29th.”
The selling points of the bout were on the tip of his tongue. Munster are winding up for this one, make no mistake
“Munster-Leinster is a great game in the Irish context. Munster haven’t lost at home in exactly a year. And since we lost to them at Thomond Park they’ve gone on to become Pro14 and European champions.
Andrew Conway tackles James Lowe in Thomond Park last season. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
“Everyone in Europe is striving for what they’re achieving at this stage. You just have to look at their last two games (against Bath); they can win a close game or blow other teams out of the park.
“Great challenge for us and one that we as a squad are really looking forward to.
“It’s a team that we respect. And what better way to test yourselves than against the double champions on the 29th in Thomond Park.”
After making 13 changes to his full-strength side and still forcing a losing bonus point in a loss to Ulster, Van Graan took heart from the defensive effort on show to deny Dan McFarland’s men a try-scoring bonus point. Further cause for positivity arose from the successful returns of Conor Oliver, Tommy O’Donnell, Darren Sweetnam, Jean Kleyn and Jaco Taute.
“As a squad we took a step forward tonight,” said the head coach, “we want to take it step-by-step over the next four weeks.
“The game of the season next, then Connacht – who are in our conference – then it’s Gloucester and Exeter.”
Heavyweight battles one and all.
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Munster ramping up for 'game of the season' against fully-loaded Leinster
JOHANN VAN GRAAN adopted the language of a prize fight on Friday night.
The lights in Kingspan Stadium were still a long way from being shut down for Christmas, but the Munster head coach had thoughts firmly fixed on Leinster.
The South African is rarely short of a complimentary word for his rivals in the east. He continually refers to the team setting the benchmark, the team with Pro14 and European champions daubed all over them.
Yet aside from offering up that continuous stream of respect, once the L word was mentioned, the fixture was fixed in Van Graan’s vision like a fight for a fighter. The usual use of a day or ‘next week’ to point at a given fixture was replaced with a specific date as boxers and their promoters are wont to do.
“There will be many changes,” said Van Graan, who also expects to see Leinster fully locked and loaded in an already sold-out Thomond Park.
“24-25 guys were rested for this week, given a mental break. We’ll carefully plan through this week and, what a great challenge awaits us on the 29th.”
The selling points of the bout were on the tip of his tongue. Munster are winding up for this one, make no mistake
“Munster-Leinster is a great game in the Irish context. Munster haven’t lost at home in exactly a year. And since we lost to them at Thomond Park they’ve gone on to become Pro14 and European champions.
“Everyone in Europe is striving for what they’re achieving at this stage. You just have to look at their last two games (against Bath); they can win a close game or blow other teams out of the park.
“Great challenge for us and one that we as a squad are really looking forward to.
“It’s a team that we respect. And what better way to test yourselves than against the double champions on the 29th in Thomond Park.”
After making 13 changes to his full-strength side and still forcing a losing bonus point in a loss to Ulster, Van Graan took heart from the defensive effort on show to deny Dan McFarland’s men a try-scoring bonus point. Further cause for positivity arose from the successful returns of Conor Oliver, Tommy O’Donnell, Darren Sweetnam, Jean Kleyn and Jaco Taute.
“As a squad we took a step forward tonight,” said the head coach, “we want to take it step-by-step over the next four weeks.
“The game of the season next, then Connacht – who are in our conference – then it’s Gloucester and Exeter.”
Heavyweight battles one and all.
Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Inter-pro Leinster Munster the big one