Munster will expose Northampton flaws

Leinster also poised to repel Exiles and confirm Irish supremacy over Premiership sides, writes LIAM TOLAND

ROUND SIX of the Heineken Cup is upon us and with it the potential demise of the Guinness Premiership clubs. With four rounds of the nine still remaining it may be a little premature but last week’s penultimate series of pool games confirmed the two-tier system that exists. The English game is currently straddling both tiers.

The penultimate pool stage separates the wheat from the chaff. That is why last weekend’s big wins are so difficult to judge. Munster cantered home brilliantly, Leinster fought hard and Northampton barely fought at all but still managed a five-pointer. Only late tomorrow will we discover did London Irish “blow it”. Lying third and forth respectively in the Guinness Premiership, they fly the flag this weekend. And it’s Northampton I wish to focus on.

An insight into the world Northampton occupy can be gleaned from the bookies. The Saints lie second to Leicester in the Guinness Premiership Regular Season Outright Betting at 5 to 2. But with all to play for tonight they are way out at 40 to 1 in the Heineken Cup. Leicester fair that bit better at 18 to 1 but there’s huge French and Irish traffic ahead of them.

Northampton Saints’ position in the Premiership and their big win last weekend tells us little about their pedigree for tonight’s match. One thing we do know, Shane Geraghty at 10 will attack the gain line. His role can provide the key component needed to challenge what the Irish provinces have in spades: pace and experience. Although scoring a four-try bonus point victory over Perpignan, for long periods the Saints failed to dictate the tempo. On the face of it, it was a very measured victory, holding Perpignan to nil for the first time in their Heineken Cup history but there are flaws.

An insight into a team’s mental state can be garnered from how they managed the “extra man”. For 10 minutes Perpignan had no outhalf with Steve Meyer in the bin. It was only as Meyer returned that the Saints managed their opening score, a three-pointer. Munster cup rugby is a ruthless environment, especially when they sense a weakness. Hooker Dylan Hartley’s ridiculous cross-field kick suggests Northampton don’t have the killer instinct.

Worse was to come for Northampton as the first half ticked by when a loose ball ended up in a foot race with Perpignan’s Adrien Plante being robbed by Geraghty, who saved the day. Pace of movement Geraghty has aplenty, but his pace of thought is questionable.

As Meyer entered the bin Northampton had a kickable penalty. Debate raged between Geraghty and his captain, Hartley. Geraghty, as the playmaker and leader, should have utilised the obvious confusion in the Perpignan backline to Northampton’s advantage; scrum down. But 16 minutes in, at home and the Saints failed to punish. He also has a tendency to spoil attacking positions, electing for the dink through the onrushing defence. Tomás O’Leary will sweep these balls up so Munster should encourage the wasteful kicks from Geraghty. He is a fantastic athlete but questions remain about his game management.

I know if you don’t want to do something one excuse is as good as the other but to be fair to Northampton, the five-day turn around and journey to Limerick is an added hurdle. The Irish focus has always been the Heineken Cup firstly and then Magners League (with no relegation). This affords time to plan a strategy over the months to tackle the best in Europe. With a do-or-die Premiership Northampton simple don’t have that luxury and must rely on the week immediately preceding the fixture to prepare. Their match on Sunday allowed Monday as recovery and Thursday for travel to Limerick, which leaves only Tuesday and Wednesday for preparation for Munster.

Time is against them so what should we expect? Northampton will target the Munster frontrow. Not because Munster have been struggling in this area but because Soane Tonga’uiha, Hartley and Euan Murray are excellent scrummagers and will fancy it. With Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan in the “row” Munster will stand firm.

Geraghty will use his scrum to attack the 10 channel and create rewinds for their superb counter-attacking fullback Ben Foden.

In many ways both Foden and Paul Warwick are cut from the same cloth, excellent with ball in hand, transferring between two hands, handing off and seamlessly drifting into the space between forwards.

I was always taught all military obstacles must be covered by fire. Both Warwick and Foden can expose your big forward obstacles in midfield so they must have quick backs to cover them. This is particularly true from a classic Northampton set up off lineouts. Off-the-top ball will be fired out to James Downey who, at 6ft 4in and 16 stone 3 lbs, will run into you know who. A very quick recycle ball will be rewound to Foden running back down the blindside channel, picking off isolated forwards; watch for it.

It’ll be a massive day for returning “Munster” man Downey at 12 and he’ll want to make his mark. At Franklin’s Gardens his defence was ferocious. No doubt Tony McGahan will have devised a way around Downey. If not then there’ll be some very sore bodies come Saturday morning.

Defensively, Jean De Villiers will have to be at his very best. Inside him and for all his lack of experience of classic number-eight play David Wallace’s move to the base of the scrum combined with Niall Ronan at seven will allow for a faster, wider game. With Warwick in flying form Ronan can add real width.

It’s going to be a humdinger but Munster cup rugby is a culture of its own, with pace, leadership and experience which will send the Saints marching home.

Finally, way back in 1999 Leinster travelled to Scotland to play Glasgow Rugby in the early days of the European Cup. I have two very distinctive memories from that fixture. The first involved a half-time dressingroom invasion! The second but by far the more iconic memory was meeting Bill McLaren. He made the four-hour journey to Hughenden for our captain’s run the previous night, simply to get a flavour of us. He was truly iconic, legendary and will remain forever irreplaceable. What an honour it was to meet him.