As with the general consensus around Munster’s opening Heineken Champions Cup game against five-time champions Toulouse last Sunday, the coaches and players themselves retain misgivings around only their second defeat in their last 21 European ties at Thomond Park alongside a relatively positive analysis of the performance itself.
“We’ve been over a lot of that game, and the boys acquitted themselves very well,” maintained defence coach Denis Leamy. “Obviously we never want to lose at Thomond Park, but I think there was loads of good stuff, both sides of the ball, in terms of how we defended phase play, attacked in phase play. We had some great moments at scrum time, so there were loads of good stuff.
“Toulouse are up there with the top two or three in Europe. They posed us loads of questions, and by and large our boys responded really, really well. We got caught a couple of times in terms of reads out of maul plays, but these are things we can improve on.”
Graham Rowntree referenced Toulouse’s power game and Gavin Coombes highlighted their physicality in the immediate aftermath of their defeat, and Leamy was equally struck by these aspects of the Top 14 leaders.
The Counter Ruck: the rugby newsletter from The Irish Times
The top 25 women’s sporting moments of the year: top spot revealed with Katie Taylor, Rhasidat Adeleke and Kellie Harrington featuring
Leo Cullen: ‘The dressingroom is frustrated at how we performed today’
Leinster see off brave Clermont but error-strewn display brings little cheer
“I’ve been involved in the game a long time myself and you’re used to seeing big men, but I must admit I took a second look at [Emmanuel] Meafou and these guys. They’re proper mountains, they really are.
“I thought in phase play we did really well against them. Dupont found a little bit of a hole at one stage off good work from his pack, but by and large our phase play ‘D’ after three phases was really, really good, really tight.
“It’s obviously difficult in those tight exchanges in the maul where you’re against sheer body weight, but it’s trying to find your slots, trying to get there early. It’s tough against men like that, but we dug in well, we had difficult moments at times but look, credit to our boys, they’re brave. They get stuck in and we’re working hard, there’s no doubt about that.”
Not for the first time lately, there was another sighting of Joey Carbery and Jack Crowley dovetailing after the latter’s introduction at inside centre for the last half-hour; something that we might well see more of in the future.
Leamy was impressed with Crowley’s performance. “He’s obviously a very talented lad, he has loads of ability and gives us a lot in a ‘12′ jersey. It’s great to have backs, especially, that can play in different positions. It’s probably the way the game is going, you must have the ability to play across the backline, and Jack can do that at ‘12′ or ‘10′ of ‘15′.
“In phase play he can play out the back, and bring players into the game with his little subtle skills, and he also has the ability to line break. He’s a player that has an awful lot of talent, and he’ll improve as well as he progresses through his career.”
Using the option of Crowley in midfield has been heightened by Malakai Fekitoa not starting a game since the defeat by Ulster in October after a difficult start to his time with Munster.
“We have a lot of players who are playing very well, so selection is becoming very hot. There’s loads of debate around our different options,” said Leamy. “Mala is doing very well, and I think he’ll be a big player for us going forward, no doubt.”
With the pool format now a four-game sprint towards qualification for the last 16 round, the reality is that a home defeat almost certainly has to be rectified in Northampton next Sunday (kick-off 1pm, live on BT Sport) after the Saints lost 46-12 in La Rochelle.
Leamy cited what he described as “really good quality” training session in their first full hit-out of the week, adding: “We had a good chat around things we need to improve on, and how we defend from maul phases, and obviously the threat that Northampton will bring.
“They’re a side that had a tough weekend last week, but they have a lot of quality in their team, and they’re the best in terms of gain line attack in the Premiership at the moment. They’re going to present challenges in many ways.”
“We have to be very measured in what we do. It’s a battle of the gain line really in terms of who is going to win it, pure and simple.
We have to be very good in our contacts, we have to set ourselves up to be good in the tackle, to be good in our two-man shots, to apply pressure around the breakdown in a constructive manner, not to give away penalties.
“The last thing we want to do is dive into rucks and expose ourselves in terms of our defensive chain, or else give away penalties which allows access deep into the 22 and allows that mauling game to come into play.
“So we have to be very measured, we have to be aggressive with our line speed, our connections. They’ve got ]Alex] Mitchell at ‘9′ who will test us around the rucks. So in terms of our pillar and our next defender out from that, we’ve to be very calculated and disciplined in our roles.”
