THE SENSE of frustration was palpable but it couldn’t be allowed to depress the mood ahead of next weekend’s Heineken Cup clash with the Northampton Saints at stadium:mk in Milton Keynes. Munster took Pool One honours with a fifth consecutive success and a victory over Castres but know they might need a victory to earn a home quarter-final.
There was a curate’s egg quality to the Munster display but an inability to convert try-scoring chances into points persists. Munster coach Tony McGahan is trying to strike a balance between correctly identifying the merit of what his squad have achieved and the areas that require further buffing on the training ground.
He admitted: “Even if we were at full-strength (referring to a significant injury list) it would have been a massive struggle to get through (to the play-offs). We’d certainly like to be hitting the mark every time in terms of what we’re trying to do but that’s not from a lack of effort or application.
“If you look at the context of the competition as a whole and where we are in terms of heading in to round six, we need to give the players a massive amount of credit for the way they’ve carried themselves and put themselves into a position where they’re looking for a home quarter-final.”
He knows there is a rider attached to next week’s assignment. “Yeah, we’d want to get better. We’d like to get that final part of what we’re looking for and we’re working hard on that. We recognise that ahead of next weekend and even if we want to go further in this competition; that you really need those parts of your game functioning properly so you can finish off those chances. That’s the last part of it. We have the work-rate, the shape and go-forward: we just need the final part.”
The mathematics associated with the requirements of a home quarter-final are a primary consideration. “It’ll be extremely tight; all the groups on 17-18-19 (points). We’ve a difficult task and we’ll crunch the numbers.
“It’s much better having qualified before going (against) Northampton. We recognise the challenge and where they are. We want to get a result, not scrape through with a bonus point.”
Munster captain Paul O’Connell articulated the mixed emotions felt by the players. “We are delighted to have qualified with a game in hand (but) frustrated with the performance. We had a lot of possession and territory, were on the line for long periods and didn’t get over. We created a good bit. People are a little over eager at times. We created a lot and didn’t finish it off.
“Hopefully we can improve. You’d rather be creating and not finishing than not creating. I’m not saying it was brilliant but we created a little bit. Guys are showing form which is good. Our basics were very good tonight and they’re good foundations to play from. Next week away to Northampton is going to be an incredibly tough game.
“They’ve something to play for as well. They’re the last team you’d expect to be in that position at this stage; they’re probably unlucky. I’m sure they’ll be looking forward to us coming over to them.
“There’s a bit of history between us because we’ve played each other a lot in recent times. They’re an excellent side. They had the final all but won last year. So it’s unusual to see them where they are. There’s a lot of pride there. It’ll be like a Test match, a real tough one-off game. We’ve a lot to play for and it would be great to get a home quarter-final for our fans.”
Niall Ronan will have a scan on a knee he twisted badly while running during the match. Depending on the prognosis McGahan will then decide what to do in relation to registering another player by tomorrow’s deadline.
