It’s a dog-eared script, but no less intriguing yet again. For all the encouragement derived from the performance against Toulouse last Sunday, in the heel of the hunt a home defeat first up leaves little room for manoeuvre when Munster square up to Northampton in Cinch Stadium next Sunday in the Heineken Champions Cup (kick-off 1pm).
Another loss there and with Northampton at home in the return fixture before a daunting assignment away to Toulouse on the last weekend of the pool stages in January, Munster’s Last 16 qualification hopes would be hanging by a thread. It would certainly make a home draw and realistic ambitions of again going deep into the tournament more difficult.
Both historically, and this season, at least this is not unfamiliar territory.
“It’s kind of felt like that for, I suppose, the last three or four months to be honest with you,” admits defence coach Denis Leamy wryly of the pressure on Munster to deliver wins in the URC after a difficult start to the season.
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“It’s always been like that. It was always backs against the wall, proper pressure applied from in-house for these big European days. Every time you go out and represent Munster, it’s a big day. And there is always that pressure. That pressure, and it’s a good pressure may I add, coming from the fans and from in-house as well.”
They will take confidence from their performance against a locked and fully loaded Toulouse, according to Leamy. “We are really looking forward to this game. It’s another great challenge for us. It’s a big game and we wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Unlike Ulster in Sale, Northampton at least extracted a couple of late consolation tries after suffering a pummelling for 70 minutes by La Rochelle, and Leamy has seen more than enough from the Saints’s renowned attacking game to appreciate they will carry a threat.
“They’re really quick and they have an ability to play on the gain line; they get guys running lines early, they hit the ball at a lot of pace and they’ve obviously got guys like [Lewis] Ludlam and [Juarno] Augustus, these types of players who are very powerful.”
“Then you have the likes of [Alex] Mitchell, excellent around the ruck,” added Leamy of the lively Northampton scrumhalf. “They have loads of ability, right throughout the team there’s no doubt about it. Someone said to be their best in attack, certainly around the gain line, in the Premiership and that heightens your sense of alert around the game straight away.
“It’s going to be very interesting around collisions, how we can slow up their ruck ball, how we can get ourselves set to really impose our defensive line speed on them.”
Northampton will actually keep the ball in hand more than Toulouse, and while Leamy was largely happy with the defensive display last Sunday, it was not without its flaws. This even applied to the excellently executed first Toulouse try by their backs, beyond conceding the scrum penalty that led to the line-out in Munster’s left corner and conceding momentum off the maul, as well as allowing Toulouse to play with house money from the advantage penalty off that.
“We leak a little bit around the maul, they get momentum. They were on penalty advantage, so I think we spoke about when teams are on penalty advantage, let’s try and get off the line and finish the play.
“We give them a little bit of space and probably didn’t get enough heat in terms of their first pass away from the ruck. We end up getting a little bit turned up and in, and they are able to pick us off. It’s brilliantly executed. It’s a really, good attack but that’s what you’d expect from quality players like that.
“We can be better, there’s no doubt about that, and it was a disappointing one to give up but we have to take it on the chin. We’ve reflected on it and driven them hard over the last couple of days and I think we’ll be a lot better for it.”
Even when Munster were losing five of their first seven games under a new coaching ticket, Leamy remained resolutely upbeat in assessing the incremental growth in the team, and he retained that positive outlook particularly with regard to the attacking game being devised by Mike Prendergast.
“Without stating the obvious, attack is the best form of defence so the longer you keep the ball, the better chance you have,” said Leamy. “Now we’re really starting to see exciting things in our attack. The boys have worked incredibly hard, it’s a pretty new game plan to them in terms of what they were used to but just the learnings week on week, the ability to play quicker, the ability to get the ball through their hands under pressure.”
Pulling the strings with assurance has been Joey Carbery, whose performances Leamy described as excellent of late.
“I didn’t know Joey that well but having worked with him for the last couple of months, he is a very humble guy, very quiet, goes about his business.
“Really understands the game, really understands the game. Something he doesn’t let on, but he is a really good, astute footballer. He’s got loads of skills, loads of ability and he has been playing really well. It’s great for us and long may that continue.”
